RESUMO
The betel quid is one of the most commonly consumed psychoactive substances in the world. By archaeological evidence like the occurrence of areca nuts in archaeological sites, the typical overall reddish-brown staining on prehistoric human teeth or specific artifacts linked with the habit, it is assumed that this tradition reaches back to prehistoric times. Since this kind of evidence is indirect, it is frequently doubted. The present study provides the earliest direct analytical indication of betel nut chewing in human history. A typical stained tooth from an Iron Age skeleton (site Gò Ô Chùa in Southern Vietnam, 400-100 BC) was analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HR-ToF-MS) and the alkaloid arecoline which is specific for Areca catechu L. (Arecaceae) was detected.
Assuntos
Alcaloides/química , Areca/química , Esmalte Dentário/química , Alcaloides/história , Alcaloides/isolamento & purificação , Arecolina/química , Arecolina/história , Arecolina/isolamento & purificação , Cromatografia Líquida , História Antiga , Humanos , Mastigação , Espectrometria de Massas em Tandem , VietnãRESUMO
While tooth dyeing is a disappearing custom, the pharmaceutical benefits of paan in India are now being studied for other reasons. The oral carcinogenicity of betel nuts, the traditional ingredient in paan, however, has been causing paan users to replace betel with canari or lime. As a consequence of this trend, the pharmaceutical interest of paan is no longer in betel, but in the health-promoting properties of Uncaria gambir. This article has been prepared as an interim record of the progress of the author's research into this field, and was presented in the December 2006 meeting of the [symbol see text].
