Pan Masala : The Genesis

The Pan Masala can be rightly called the mouth freshner of Indian origin.

It has been observed that people all over the world have developed chewing habit especially after meals or during leisure and hours of continuous work. Example of such habits are use of chewing gum.

To some extent, Pan Masala also serves the similar purpose and is an outcome of the chewing habits of the people of Indian origin. Historically, It was the Paan or betel leaf which was consumed by kings, nawabs as well as common people in India. Even today, it is very common in all parts of India and the sub--continent. As a result of fast growing life style, the Pan has been to some extent replaced by ready-made Pan masala.

Pan Masala consists of a variety of ingredients. A good quality and well-formulated masala requires years of experiments, knowledge of the ingredients, perfumery and flavouring materials. The basic ingredients of any pan masala are betelnuts, catechu, cardamon, lime and a number of fine natural perfuming matrials.

Guthka is another varient of Pan masala, in which apart from these ingredints, a proportion of flavoured chewing tobacco is mixed.