The experimental design for the Sulawesi study: areca nuts were soaked in artificial saliva for periods ranging from one minute to several hours, mimicking the conditions of sustained nut-sucking as implied by the dental wear pattern.

The resulting solutions were then tested against the expressed human receptors.

The response — measured as an electrical current produced by the receptor-expressing cells — was compared to control conditions.

The result: detectable, dose-dependent activation of human muscarinic receptors by the arecoline released from intact nuts soaked in artificial saliva.

The amount of arecoline released was lower than what the processed quid produces — soaking in saliva extracts less arecoline than chewing with lime — but it was pharmacologically significant.

This result establishes that the ancient practice of sucking whole nuts was not merely cultural, nutritional, or habitual in the sense of being a mindless behavior.