Mouthwatering history of mouth freshener

Mouth Freshener is usually taken after the meal to freshen the mouth as well as breath. Apart from this, Indian mouth freshener is being used as a digestive aid. When you chew mouth freshener, it releases the saliva, which is helpful in digesting the food.

Origin and history of Mouth Freshener

 * Mouth Freshener is being used in Indian since a long time period. It has been mentioned in Sanskrit as Mukhwas, in which “Mukh” means mouth and “Was” means smell.

* Indian is the land of religion and spirituality. Hence, while worshiping the God, devotees offer him Pan (Tambool in Sanskrit and Betel leaf in English) after the meal.

 * As per the research based evidences, the history of pan (betel leaf) dates back to pre-Harappan Vedic period in India.

* Pan had also caught the attention of Indian Kings and hence an attendant used to carry paan box.

 * Due to breath-freshening and relaxant properties, pan was fed to bride by the husband on wedding occasion.

 * Indian pan is still popular in the world for its exclusive taste. India is the land of several spices. Therefore, Pan is mixed with several spices such as fennel seeds (Saunf), betel nuts (Supari), areca nut, catechu (Kattha), green cardamom (Eliachi), cloves (Laung) etc. In addition, mineral slaked lime (Calcium hydroxide), tobacco, saffron, pieces or powder of coconut or dry date, Gulkand (a sweet preserve of rose petals) are also mixed in it.

 * Aside from the paan, Harad (Haritaki in Sanskrit and Black Myroblan in English) was also taken as mouth freshener after the meal. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, popular devotee of Lord Jagannath also used to take Harad in form of Mukhwas.


 Mouth Freshener in modern era 

 *Even today also, you can find different types of Indian spices being used as mouth fresheners. For instance, you can easily find out sugar coated and bright colored fennel seeds along with flavored sugar crystals or ‘Misri’ even in a little Indian restaurant.

 * Pan is still the essential mouth freshener in almost each Indian wedding. Banarasi pan is famous all across the nation and you can find anyone humming the Bollywood songs like “Khai ke pan Banaras wala”, “Pan khaye siya hamaro” and many more.

 * Pan is also available in form of Pan Masala, which is a mixture of nuts, seeds, herbs, spices like cinnamon, lime, menthol, green cardamom seeds, peppermint drops, coriander seeds (dhania dana) etc. You can buy natural mouth freshener and herbal mouth freshener in several versions.

 * Moreover, some chemicals like sodium saccharin are also used in preparing modern mouth freshener.

 * Other types of mouth fresheners include Silver Fennel Mouth Freshener, Khus Supari Mouth Freshener, Fennel Mouth Freshener, Elaichi Mouth Freshener, Dry Pan Mouth Freshener etc.

 * You can grab a plenty of mouth fresheners from the popular e-commerce portal Craffts.com at pocket-friendly rates.