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Donning mini skirts and skyscraper heels, scantily-clad females wait in neon-lit glass kiosks by the side of roads for men to pull up so they can totter out to greet them.

But there is more to the situation than meets the eye. They may be dressed to grab attention, but it is their tasty betel nuts that stimulate customers. 

These beautiful and provocative 'Betel nut girls' in Taiwan are responsible for pedalling the stimulative fruit from around 60,000 booths, many along the main roads.

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A scantily-clad female in Taiwan waits in a neon-lit glass kiosk by the side of the road, so she can greet drivers with betel nuts

A woman wearing a tiny mini-skirt and heels waits for customers, who are predominantly male taxi and truck drivers

A taxi driver is handed a packet of betel nuts for chewing, by a scantily-clad woman on the side of the road

There are an estimated 60,000 booths in operation around the country, manned by females designed to attract attention 

The popular fruit is sourced from the areca palm tree, and chewed wrapped in betel leaves. Flavourings such as tobacco, cinnamon or slaked lime are often used

Recently labelled as Asia's deadly secret, the betel nut is consumed by a tenth of the world and is said to give people a buzz on par with six cups of coffee. 

Vicariously used as a cure for impotence, the women make their livelihood by pushing this seedy selling point. 

The fruit is sourced from the areca palm tree, and chewed wrapped in betel leaves. Flavourings such as tobacco, cinnamon or slaked lime are often used to improve the taste. 

After nicotine, alcohol and caffeine, the nut is the world's fourth-most popular psychoactive substance, with the female pedallers even featuring on old tourist guides.

Red stains can be seen along the pavement surrounding the telephone-style booths, thanks to the bright red juice produced by the morsel, which is spat out by customers. 

These mainly include male taxi or truck drivers, who stop off for a quick kick of the natural stimulant and to gaze at the beautiful sellers.

Although the betel nut is sold across Asia, the unusual marketing method is typically a Taiwanese tradition. 

The girls who operate these stalls tend to be from poor families, but the business provides the opportunity for them to surpass the wages of cleaning staff, waitresses and even some starting-out university graduates. 

The Sydney Morning Herald found that girls can earn $TW40,000 (£790) a month in the business compared to $TW26,000 (£514) in an office role. 

But this opportunity has not stopped the industry being steeped with controversy. 

In their heyday in the 1990s, betel nut girls worked at an estimated 100,000 booths all over the island, mostly along the streets near highways, catering to truck drivers who chewed the nut as a stimulant

One YouTuber went to discover more about the trade and interviewed the girls as they prepared the nuts (left) and served driving customers (right)

The girls explained how the nuts are trimmed in a specific way before customers are served (pictured) and they have to take care to not cut their fingers with the knife

Vicariously used as a cure for indigestion and impotence, many women make their livelihood by pushing this seedy selling point via skimpy outfits 

Although the betel nut is sold across Asia, the unusual marketing method is typically a Taiwanese tradition, with the women adding to the stimulative appeal of the nut

A Taiwanese girl processes betel nuts in a booth while her companion hails customers at a betel nut stand (left). In between customers the girls prepare the chewy snack in their glass shops (right)

THE DARK SIDE TO THE SNACK

A lady with teeth stained from betel nuts

Recent health reports have found each year 5,400 Taiwanese men are diagnosed with disease or with pre-cancerous lesions and an estimated 80 to 90 per cent of those are betel nut chewers.

Early symptoms includes white or red lesions inside the mouth with the potential to rapidly progress to grotesque flesh-eating tumours.

Many view the suggestive outfits as degrading, with the girls vulnerable to drunken customers and physical and verbal sexual advances.

In order to protect the girls and reduce the stigma attached to the trade, a stricter dress code has been enforced which requires breasts, buttocks and bellies be covered. 

In addition to this, the booths were banned within the city limits of the capital Taipei completely in 2007 and restricted to the surrounding countryside area.

'Girls used to be able to wear hardly anything, but it's better now because customers show more respect,' Sha Tang, 22, said to the Sydney news site. 

Artist Wu Chung-hua, general director of Taiwan Women's Art Association, spent 10 years studying the lives of betel nut beauties and found the outfit choices to be empowering. 

'My work is about documenting these women, without any judgement of morality,' she said to Taipei Times. 

'Male control over female bodies as a commodity definitely exists in the industry. 

'But with more girls choosing to dress sexily in exchange for more earnings, I think the industry has transformed into one with more female awareness of the power of their bodies.' 

The tradition began at the Shuangdong Betel Nut Stand in the late 1960s, where the glamorous 'Shuangdong Girls' helped to bring allure to the trade. 

As the strategy caught on the trade spread, and really started to boom in the 1990s with factories moved to China to utilise cheaper labour costs.

Recent health reports, however, have slammed the use of the fruit, with high rates of oral cancer being logged for betel nut users, sometimes decades after their first consumption. 

Taiwanese artist Wu Chung-hua created this installation based on pictures and interviews with betel nut girls over the course of 11 years

The booths were banned within the city limits of the capital Taipei completely in 2007 and restricted to the surrounding countryside area

Each year, 5,400 Taiwanese men are diagnosed with disease or with pre-cancerous lesions and an estimated 80 to 90 per cent of those are betel nut chewers.

Early symptoms includes white or red lesions inside the mouth with the potential to rapidly progress to grotesque flesh-eating tumours.

In order to cut down the supply, the government has made efforts to offer subsidies to farmers to get rid of their trees and plant alternative crops.

The trade made be dwindling but the lights on the neon booths still shine just as brightly in the booths that remain. 

A girl smiles during her shift in the stand, which can earn some sellers $TW40,000 (£790) a month compared to $TW26,000 (£514) in an office role (left). Pictured right is Taiwanese artist Wu Chung-hua's painting 'Pretty Women', which depicts a girl in a sexy dress and platforms shoes holding a plate of betel nuts to symbolize classic beauty and a modern woman (right)

In order to protect the girls and reduce the stigma attached to the trade, a stricter dress code has been enforced which requires breasts, buttocks and bellies to be covered

The trade is steeped with controversy, both because of the suggestive outfits, but also due to reports of the fruit causing oral cancer