Betel Leaves

Betel leaf: Piper betle L.

Family: Piperaceae.
Introduction:
• The Betel is the leaf of vine. In Bangladesh, it is
known as “paan”. Betel leaf is an important cash crop
in our country.
• Betel vine is a perennial, evergreen climber with
glossy heart-shaped leaves which grows in tropics
and subtropics.
• Betel leaf is mostly consumed in Asia and elsewhere
in the world by some Asian emigrants.
• Today betel is grown for local consumption and
exports. Major betel leaves growing countries are Sri
Lanka, India, Thailand and Bangladesh.

Uses of Betel leaves

• Pan is considered to be one of the ingredients for
social entertainment
• People chew it to sweeten the breath and colour
(crimson) the lip and tongue and also to have some
narcotic pleasure
• Normally pan is chewed with shell-lime paste (chun)
and areca nut or betel nut (supari).
• It has a sharp taste and good smell, improves taste
and appetite.
• In festivals and dinners, in pujas pan is a necessary
item.
• In Bangladesh, various types of consumers eat
different varieties of pan. Among those, Dhakai
Khilipan, a ready pack of betel leaf processed in
Dhaka is famous in the sub-continent.
Important Varieties:
Based on shape, size, brittleness and taste of leaf blade,
betel vine is classified into pungent and non-pungent
varieties
• Bangla, Mitha, Sanchi, Korpuri, Ujani, Maghi, Deshi,
Barisal, Jali, BARI Paan 1, BARI Paan 2, BARI Paan
3.
 Cultivation

Climatic Requirements:
• Tropical climate, high rainfall and a shady place are
best for its vigorous growth.
• Betel is a sun loving plant but produces better quality
leaves in the wet zone and intermediate zones rather
than in the dry zone.
• Appropriate shade levels and irrigation are essential
for successful cultivation of the crop. Hot dry winds
are harmful and retard the growth of the vine.
Soil Requirements: Soil with good organic matter (i.e.
C:N ratio) and drainage system is best suited for betel
vine growth. However, it can be grown on different types
of soils such as heavy clay loam and sandy loam soils.
Soil preparation: Soil should be prepared well by 4–5
ploughings and land should be raised by 5–10cm from
the adjacent areas, providing proper gradient on both
sides for quick drainage. Afterwards, field beds of
suitable size (15cm high and 30cm broad) are prepared.
Before planting the cuttings, soil should be sterilized
thoroughly
Soil Sterilization:
• During hot summer months (March–May), when the
soil temperature rises sufficiently, soil is covered
using polyethylene sheet in order to destroy inoculum
of soil- borne pathogens.
• For new plantations, application of Carbofuran 3G @
1.5 kg/ha or neem cake (0.5 tonnes/ha) + Carbofuran
(0.75kg/ha) is also recommended to minimize initial
soil nematode population.
• However, Carbofuran should not be recommended in
established gardens at any stage because a time gap
of 65–70 days as safe waiting period is required
between application and harvesting of leaves.

Planting time :
The monsoon season is ideal for planting betel
leaves plants under closed system cultivation.
However, planting season of betel leaves varies from
region to region.
Propagation and planting:
• Stem cuttings having 3-5 nodes are used for
propagation and these are planted in such a manner
that 2-3 nodes are buried in the soil.
• Cuttings of the apical and middle portions of the vine
are used for planting.
• The plants are neatly arranged in parallel rows about
two feet apart, and they are twined around upright
sticks of split bamboo and reeds.
There are 2 types of betel leaf cultivation is practiced in
India and Bangladesh.
1) Open system cultivation using support plants.
2) Closed system cultivation using rectangular structures
(artificial) called boroj.
 Growing of support plants for natural support and
shade:
Plants of Moringa or Sesbania are raised to provide
support and shade. These support plants are sown in
45 to 60 cm rows at least 45 days before planting the
cuttings of betel leaf.
Betel leaf cultivation with support tree
 Building boroj for artificial support and shade:
• Boroj are normally made on slightly sloppy field, near
to a source of water at a higher level than the
adjoining place. Boroj are just rectangular structures
made up of sticks or bamboo which are normally
having a height of 2 to 2.5 meters. These rectangular
structures are covered with using straw or coconut
leaves or similar kind of material.
 Boroj

Betel vines grown inside the

boroj
After care
Sets establishes within 3 weeks. The first leaf comes
within a month. From this time, it requires constant
cutting by expert hand.
Irrigation:
Since betel vine requires high soil moisture, frequent
light irrigation depending upon the season is to be given.
Irrigation should be need-based and proper drainage is
essential for draining of excess water. Water should be
clean and free from microbial contamination.
Fertilizer Application
• Betel leaves are picked once in every 3-4 weeks and
with that substantial quantity of nutrient is removed
from the field. Therefore application of chemical
fertilizer is essential for higher yield and better
growth.
Fertilizer recommendation
• Urea 195g
• TSP 65g
• MoP 100g
• magnesium sulphate 60g
• 420g of above mixture should be applied to 100
betel vines in every three weeks intervals.
Organic fertilizer
• Initially cow dung or compost should be applied to
the bed after about one month and it should be
mixed well with soil without damaging to the newly
planted cuttings.
Lowering of vines
• Under normal cultivation, the vines grow to height of 3
m in one year period.
• When they reach this height their vigour to produce
normal size leaf are reduced and they need
rejuvenation by lowering during March - April.
• „Lowering‟ is a process in which vines are untied from
their support & their lower portion is coiled up carefully
leaving 1 or 2 feet growing end free and buried in the
soil.
• Before lowering all the leaves should be harvested
Lowering of vines
After the vine is
lowered, the tillers
spring up from the
nodes at the bends of
the coiled vines at the
ground level and Coiled up vine/lowering of betel vine
produce many primary
vines. Irrigation should
be given after each
lowering.
Training and pruning :
One month after the plantation of betel leaf, young
shoots begin to appeared. Training is done by fixing
the vine at intervals of 15 to 20 cm along the support
loosely with the help of banana fibre or jute fibre.
Training is done at every 15 - 20 days interval
depending upon the growth of vines.
Plant protection
Pests
Scale insects:
• Select scale-free seed vines.
• Spray Malathion 50 EC 1 ml/L
Mites:
• Mites can be controlled by spraying wettable sulphur
50 WP @ 1 g/L or Dicofol 18.5 EC 0.5 ml/L.
Nematode:
• Application of Neem cake @ 1 t/ha to soil for
controlling the nematode populations.
Diseases
Phytophthora Wilt
Integrated method for the management of Phytophthora
wilt.
• Soaking well matured seed vines for about 30
minutes in Bordeaux mixture 0.5 % before planting.
• Drench Bordeaux mixture 0.25% in basins formed
around the vine at monthly intervals starting from
October – January, three times soil drench and six
times spray from June - July.
• Removal and burning of the affected vines
Anthracnose
• Spray 0.2 % Ziram or 0.5% Bordeaux mixture after
plucking the leaves after the first appearance of the
symptom
Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew can be controlled by spraying 0.2%
wettable sulphur after plucking the leaves.
Harvesting and Post Harvest practices
• Harvesting is started when the betel vine is grown up
to 1.2-1.8m in length.
• Initially matured leaves are removed in lower parts of
the main stem 2-3 times.
• After that betel leaves are harvested from both main
stem and lateral stems.
• For export market betel is harvested from three weeks
intervals and for local market in two weeks intervals.
 Betel vine leaves

Betel leaves in the

market
• Harvested leaves are washed, cleaned and graded
according to their size and quality.
• Then they are packed after cutting a portion of the
petiole and rejecting the damaged leaves. The picked
leaves are sorted into different grades according to
size, colour, texture and maturity.
• After that, they are arranged in numbers for packing.
For packing mostly bamboo baskets are used and in
many places straw, fresh or dried banana leaves, wet
cloth etc. are used for inner lining.
Standard quality specifications
• There are no specific quality parameters for betel
leaves. But for export quality following criteria is
considered:
 Size of the leaf – At least 20cm in length and 15cm in
width
 Colour – well matured dark Green coloured leaves
 High pungency
 Freshness of the leaves
 Stem of the leaf must be 2.5-3cm
Yield:
About 75 to 100 lakh leaves/ha/year can be obtained.
Processing of Betel leaves
• Usually betel leaves are used for chewing as fresh
unprocessed.
• But in certain areas, leaves are subjected to
processing known as bleaching and curing. There is a
good demand for such leaves which get higher prices
in the markets.
Bleaching and curing:
• Generally bleaching and curing procedure of leaves is
done in a closed room.
• The room can be made up of mud, cement, brick or
any other materials available locally.
• The basic principle of curing process is that the green
leaves are treated with smoke, high temperature and
pressure in a closed room with little or no ventilation.
• Thus the temperature inside the room is regulated for
improving organoleptic qualities and ultimately the
green leaves are converted to white or yellowish
white colour leaves.

• This process is done by alternate heating of 6 hours

at 50-60°C and cooling of 12 hours, two to three
times followed by aeration of leaves by turning and
stored under dark condition.
• It takes 15-20 days for making complete white or
yellowish from green betel leaves.
• In this process, the shelf life of betel leaves is
extended up to one month.
• The superior quality bleached leaves are very soft
and a uniform yellow colour is formed.
• This process increases flavour, which is due to the
presence of volatile oils.
• After completion of the curing process, the leaves are
graded, spoiled leaves are discarded, cured leaves
are taken out and the uncured green leaves are cured
again for 8-24 hrs depending upon the colour of the
leaves.
• Changes occurred in sweetness of leaves after curing
leads to earn more money by the farmers.
• The processed leaf also imparts a sweet taste,
making it a favourite among experts due to its high
quality.