Hunan Laokouzi has always been a group of people who pay great attention to the taste. They have different taste habits and are increasingly picky in the selection of betel nuts. What kind of betel nut is better has always been the topic of discussion after lunch, and the quality and taste of the fruit have also become the hot topic.

Areca nut and Xianglian industry are traditional industries in Xiangtan City, with a long history of development. In particular, the betel nut industry has great development potential, broad development prospects and growing size. In 2017, the total output value of areca industry exceeded 15 billion yuan, an increase of about 25% over the previous year. On the one hand, the government has increased its attention and support to the betel nut industry;

Areca is a traditional regional food in Xiangtan. Areca industry is one of the largest characteristic industries and leading industries in Tianyi Economic Development Zone. In combination with the plan of Xiangtan County to build a "famous betel nut city", the Tianyi Economic Development Zone actively explored and implemented measures to promote the in-depth expansion of the betel nut industry and strengthen the chain foundation.

Hainan Province recently held a seminar on promoting the transformation and upgrading of Hainan betel nut industry. The provincial ecological environmental protection department, provincial agricultural department, provincial science and technology department and other functional units, Hainan Areca Association, Hunan Areca Association, five areca deep-processing enterprises and six areca environmental processing equipment manufacturers participated.

The development of betel nut industry in Xiangtan, Hunan can be traced back to more than 300 years ago. According to Xiangtan County Annals, in the first month of 1650 (the sixth year of Shunzhi's reign), Qing soldiers slaughtered Xiangtan for nine days. The county has a population of tens of thousands, with less than 20 or 30 households left and less than 100 people. An Anhui merchant surnamed Cheng got an old monk's method of chewing betel nuts to avoid the epidemic, and then he collected the dead. Since then, the habit of chewing betel nuts has continued and gradually expanded to the whole province.

Hunan people have chewed areca for more than 400 years. At present, about 26 million people chew areca in the province. The annual sales revenue of areca in the province exceeds 10 billion yuan, and nearly 300000 people are engaged in work related to areca. However, the developing edible areca industry has encountered two "bottlenecks" restricting the further growth of the industry: food positioning and food safety standards. How to break these two "bottlenecks"?

Under the influence of Typhoon "Vermasson", the launch of betel nut in Hainan Province was delayed by more than one month compared with previous years. It is understood that the first batch of betel nuts have been listed for just half a month. Compared with the same period last year, the purchase price has doubled, reaching about 4 yuan per kilogram.

Editor's note: Areca is known as "the first of the four southern medicines". Compendium of Materia Medica records that areca is bitter, pungent and warm in nature. It has the effects of expelling insects, eliminating accumulation, lowering qi and promoting water circulation. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, betel nuts were still the exclusive products of the royal family and nobility. Like the betel nuts that Jia Lian asked You Erjie to eat in A Dream of Red Mansions, and like the betel nuts in the treasure box of old Buddha Cixi, it must also be offered by the famous firm that year.

The rumor and refutation of areca carcinogenesis involve a huge areca industry chain. Its upper reaches are 2.3 million areca farmers in Hai Province, and its middle reaches are Hunan areca processing enterprises worth nearly 10 billion yuan and the employment of more than 400000 people. The professional sales team of areca is also expanding to the whole country.