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The term smokeless tobacco is used to describe tobacco that is consumed without heating or burning at the time of use. Smokeless tobacco can be used orally or nasally. For nasal use, a small quantity of very fine tobacco powder mixed with aromatic substances called dry snuff is inhaled. This form of smokeless tobacco use, although still practiced, is not very common in India. No scientific report is available in the literature and therefore nasal inhalation of snuff will not be further dealt with in this chapter. The oral use of smokeless tobacco is widely prevalent in India; the different methods of consumption include chewing, sucking and applying tobacco preparations to the teeth and gums. Smokeless tobacco products are often made at home but are also manufactured. Recently, a variety of smokeless tobacco products have been produced industrially on a large scale, commercially marketed and are available in small plastic and aluminum foil packets.
Paan (betel quid) with tobacco
Paan chewing, or betel quid chewing, is often erroneously referred to as betel
nut chewing. Paan consists of four main ingredients betel leaf (Piper beetle),
areca nut (Areca catechu), slaked lime [Ca(OH2)] and catechu (Acacia catechu).
Betel leaves contain volatile oils such as eugenol and terpenes, nitrates and
small quantities of sugar, starch, tannin and several other substances.
Condiments and sweetening agents may be added as per regional practices and
individual preferences. Some time after its introduction, tobacco became an
important constituent of paan, and currently most habitual paan chewers include
tobacco.
Mainpuri tobacco
In the Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh and nearby areas, this preparation is
very popular. It contains mainly tobacco with slaked lime, finely cut areca nut,
camphor and cloves. In a study of 35,000 individuals in Mainpuri, 7% of the
villagers used this product.
Mawa
This preparation contains thin shavings of areca nut with the addition of some
tobacco and slaked lime. Its use is becoming popular in Gujarat, especially
among the youth. Mawa use is also prevalent in other regions of the country. The
prevalence of mawa chewing has increased tremendously in recent years. Its
magnitude can be assessed from the fact that the Bhavnagar city administration
appealed to the people not to litter the streets with the cellophane wrappers of
mawa, as they clogged the city drains!
