if ($text =~ /\bstart\b(.*?)\bend\b/) {
	$result = $1;
	# do something with results
}

##</code><code>##

sub between {
	my $text = shift;
	if ($text =~ /start(.*?)end/) {
		$result = $1;
		between($result);
	} else {
		return $text;
	}
}