The Central government will undertake a study “Evidence-based research on arecanut and human health” to address the knowledge gap and provide conclusive evidence on the health effects of arecanut.
In a written reply to Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Bhagirath Choudhary said the study brings together 16 national and State-level agencies on medical research, including the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and others, to conduct detailed research on the effect of arecanut on human health.
The government was aware of the challenges faced by arecanut farmers, the Minister said. Certain research papers on the health effects of arecanut quoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) had methodological limitations leading to inconclusive reports. “Notably, most of these studies focused on the health impacts of chewing mixtures, such as betel quid and gutkha, which contain arecanut along with other ingredients. They did not indicated the sole and specific effects of consumption of arecanut isolate on human health,” Mr. Choudhary said.
He further said systematic review of the available literature by multi-institutional stakeholders at the ICAR’s Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, in November 2023 revealed that the arecoline (alkaloid in arecanut) dosage used in these experiments was of a higher concentration compared to that released during normal chewing.
Recently, the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd. had written to the Centre seeking its intervention against the WHO’s classification of arecanut as carcinogenic.
Moisture
Responding to Shivamogga MP B.Y. Raghavendra as whether the government had reviewed the impact of the FSSAI’s 7% maximum moisture content requirement on the viability and profitability of arecanut farming, particularly for growers in regions like Karnataka where climate and natural drying processes make compliance challenging, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ramnath Thakur said FSSAI did not conduct any impact assessment in that regard.
However, CPCRI-Kasaragod evaluated arecanut samples for moisture and water activity. For storage of arecanut under dry condition, moisture content of 11% with corresponding water activity of 7.1 was found reasonably safe, he said.
Published – December 03, 2024 09:49 pm IST
