Areca nut

The areca nut (/ˈærᵻkə/ or /əˈriːkə/) is the seed of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut, as it is often chewed wrapped in betel leaves (paan). The term areca originated from a South Asian word during the 16th century, when Dutch and Portuguese sailors took the nut to Europe. The habit has many harmful effects on health. The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded after reviewing the published medical research that chewing areca nut is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, most importantly arecoline (the primary psychoactive ingredient), contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts, such as awareness of the risks of chewing buai.

Description

The areca nut is not a true nut, but rather a fruit categorized as a drupe. It is commercially available in dried, cured and fresh forms. When the husk of the fresh fruit is green, the nut inside is soft enough to be cut with a typical knife. In the ripe fruit, the husk becomes yellow or orange and, as it dries, the fruit inside hardens to a wood-like consistency. At that stage, the areca nut can only be sliced using a special scissors-like cutter (known as aḍakattera in Telugu, adake kattari in Kannada,bajjeai in Tulu, adakitta [अडकित्ता] in Marathi, puwak [පුවක්] in Sinhala, shupari [সুপারি] or jaanti in Bengali, adakka അടക്കാ in Malayalam, pakku (பாக்கு) in Tamil, sarautaa in Hindi, Khilikaati in Odia, sudi in Gujarati) and Su'aro سوئڙو in Sindhi.

Nut

Nut, NUT, Nuts or NUTS may refer to:

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Nut (fruit)

A nut is a fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, which is generally edible. In a general context, however, a wide variety of dried seeds are called nuts, but in a botanical context, there is an additional requirement that the shell does not open to release the seed (indehiscent). The translation of "nut" in certain languages frequently requires paraphrases, as the word is ambiguous.

Most seeds come from fruits that naturally free themselves from the shell, unlike nuts such as hazelnuts, chestnuts, and acorns, which have hard shell walls and originate from a compound ovary. The general and original usage of the term is less restrictive, and many nuts, such as almonds, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, and Brazil nuts, are not nuts in a botanical sense. Common usage of the term often refers to any hard-walled, edible kernel as a nut.

Botanical definition

A nut in botany is a simple dry fruit with one seed (rarely two) in which the ovary wall becomes very hard (stony or woody) at maturity, and where the seed remains unattached or free within the ovary wall. Most nuts come from the pistils with inferior ovaries (see flower) and all are indehiscent (not opening at maturity). True nuts are produced, for example, by some plant families of the order Fagales.

List of Marvel Comics characters: N

N'Gabthoth

N'Gabthoth is a demon who has clashed with the Doctor Strange. He once served as an agent of Shuma-Gorath. N'Gabthoth has great magical power, and could fire bolts of mystical force from his eye.

Nameless One

The Nameless One is a two-headed demon. The Nameless One first appeared in Sub-Mariner #22 (February 1970), and was created by Roy Thomas and Marie Severin. He was the leader of the Undying Ones, and led them to conquer the Earth millennia ago. The Undying Ones ruled the Earth for ages, though eventually their powers waned and were forced to return to their own realm. The Nameless One continued to rule them when they were exiled from Earth, and during several attempts to conquer it again in modern times. Later, another demon became a successor to the previous, two-headed Nameless One as leader of the Undying Ones. This demon tried to use Wolverine to kill Doctor Strange. Wolverine, enhanced by demonic magic, slew this Nameless One and many of the Undying Ones.