Phlu | ไพลู | Piper betle
Family: Piperaceae - Genus: Piper
The betel vine can be found in the wild in the area of the Food Forest Kitchen Restaurant on the premises of TCDF and Eco-Logic Thailand.
The betel (Piper betle) is a vine with edible leaves . Betel leaf is mostly consumed in Asia, where it is used as a wrapper for the chewing of the areca nut and/or tobacco. The plant is an evergreen perennial, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and slim, cylindrical white flower cluster.
Each vine is picked 3 - 4 (occasionally 5) times a year. Leaves are traditionally plucked early in the morning by cutting the petiole with a sharpened steel thumbnail. They should be kept out of the sun to preserve their aroma.
THE VINE
Piper betle is an evergreen climbing shrub producing woody stems 5 - 20 meters long. The stems produce adventitious roots, with which they can adhere to other plants etc. for support.
THE LEAVES
Light green to bright green leaves are glossy, deeply veined and hairless. They are heart-shaped with entire leaf margin. The petiole (leaf stalk) is reddish like the stem.
THE FLOWERS
White catkins developed on the nodes, erect or pendulous. Flowers are small, without sepal and petal.
CULINARY USES
In most of Southeast Asia, the betel leaf is used largely for the chewing of areca nut (erroneously called “betel nut” by colonialists) and as a medicinal herb. It has a very intense taste – bitter, hot, and unpleasantly medicinal – and can numb the tongue.
The betel is a medicinal plant and is not used for cooking.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL USE OF NEEDLE FLOWER
NOTE: please take advice from a doctor if you are planning to use herbal medicine.
Leaf : Bitter, astringent, and hot in taste, known for whetting the appetite, reducing phlegm, controlling flatulence, promoting vitality and virility, neutralizing poison, supporting heart and bowel functions, and curing coughs and heart disease.
Children are given a mixture of honey and the juice from the crushed leaves to alleviate indigestion, gas, diarrhea, fevers, and other illnesses. Juice from crushed leaves is taken with milk as a remedy for emotional distress related to the menstrual cycle.
A mixture of the juice from the crushed leaves, rock salt, and a decoction of ginger is used for asthma, chest pain, indigestion, and whooping cough. The juice from the crushed leaves is applied as eyedrops for night blindness, sore or inflamed eyes, and other eye problems.
A leaf decoction made with turmeric and a bit of salt is taken for fevers and illnesses.
Roasted until limp but not dry, leaves or applied with coconut oil in compresses on the soft spots of children’s heads to cure runny noses.
A decoction of the leaves with jaggery and salt is taken for fever caused by heat stroke.
INTO THE WILD: a down to earth experience
For guests and visitors to Paksong we organize weekly tours "The Edible Forest" and Foraging weekends: Into the Wild. We work with local guides to take you in the jungle of Paksong. After foraging, we will cook a meal with the ingredients, using bamboo together with you!
Come and join and learn about the abundance of food that nature gives us!
INTO THE WILD!
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