Piper betle L. (betelvine) is a valuable crop that is widely used as masticatory and with a long past history of varied traditional uses. Betelvine possesses numerous phytochemicals with important pharmacological attributes.  Active molecules such as Fluoride, Eugenol, Hydroxylchavicol, Chlorogenic acid etc. present in betelvine with potent antibacterial, antifungal as well as anti-carcinogenic properties signify tremendous prospective of the plant for the formulation of natural product based drugs for maintaining hygiene and cure of diseases in the oral cavity.

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India is one of the largest tea producers in the world. In India the state of Assam is a large tea growing belt in the world where the renowned Assam teas grow. The tea was discovered growing wild in Assam by the British. Before the discovery of wild teas the local population of Assam, some of the tribal people, were in the habit of drinking tea in their indigenous method of preparation since time immemorial. Since the early part of the nineteenth century, discovery of 'wild' plants of Assam and Cambodia races of tea were recorded. In Assam and the North-East area at present in all the explorations carried out to the original tea areas, hybrids of the three main varieties of tea are found. The true to type original Assam variety is yet to be discovered. Existence of wild tea plants in the forests of Assam has been a subject of much curiosity and collection of such germplasm would greatly assist research on plant improvement by the scientists.

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Teas are classified in various ways depending manufacturing process, convention, technique and market available form.An exhaustive classification based on market available forms classifies Indian teas into eleven broad categories. Assam is a place of origin of tea, wild tea plants were discovered in Assam in 1823 and tea plantations started since 1837. Some of the indigenous tribal people of Assam had the habit of drinking tea prepared in their traditional form and the Singphos call such tea as phalap. Entrepreneurs of small tea growers who are a major force to reckon with in Assam tea at present are producing organic (called natural) handmade and traditional forms of teas which are gaining popularity world over. Organic certification, technical guidance in production and marketing are some of the problems faced by the producers of the handmade and traditional teas who are almost entirely small tea growers. Such teas are of special character with high quality. Demand for these teas is growing both internally and in global market and has huge market potential. Entrepreneurial handmade and traditional tea producers are putting their efforts to popularize and market such forms of tea in India and globally overcoming the challenges.