Taiwan: Rice paddy and areca (betel) palms, the main crops of the fertile Eastern Rift Valley

Areca is a genus of about 50 species of single-stemmed palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from Malaysia to the Solomon Islands.

The nut is commonly used in conjunction with betel leaf, a mild stimulant. The combination of this and tobacco is chewed in a quid.

Betel leaf is mostly consumed in Asia, and elsewhere in the world by some Asian emigrants, as betel quid or paan, with or without tobacco, in an addictive psycho-stimulating and euphoria-inducing formulation with adverse health effects.

Chewing areca nut is an increasingly rare custom in the modern world. Yet once, not so long ago, areca nut – taken with the leaf of the betel tree and lime paste – was widely consumed throughout South and Southeast Asia by people of all social classes, and was considered an essential part of daily life.

The seed of the monocot group of flowering plants, rice is a cereal grain that comes in two major strains: Oryza sativa or Asian rice, and Oryza glaberrima or African rice.

For a large portion of the world’s population, particularly those in Central, East and South Asia, rice is one of the most important and most widely consumed food sources.

Etymologically the word rice comes from the Old French 'ris', dated from around the mid-13th century. The Old French term itself is believed to have been derived from the Italian 'riso', which in turn came from the Latin word 'oriza', and the Latin word derived from the Greek 'oruza', from which all European words for rice originate.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia