A Novel Composition For Agarbatti

Abstract

Thus according to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a binder/adhesive composition comprising a mixture of jigat and at least one biopolymer selected from guar, maize, tamarind, ghatti,tragacanth, xanthan, pectin, Na CMC, Na alginate and gum karaya and the like, more preferably guar, maize and tamarind gum in the following proportions.Jigat 10-90% and gum 90-10%According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a binder/adhesive composition without jigat comprising a mixture of two or more biopolymersselected from guar, maize, tamarind, Na CMC, karaya, tragacanth, ghatti, polyethylene glycol, xanthan, pectin and the like, more preferably guar, maize, acacia and tamarind gum as exemplified below.Guar (10-40%) : Maize (90-60%)Guar (10-40%): Tamarind (90-60%)Guar (10-40%): Maize (20-80%) : Acacia (10-40%)Guar (10-40%) : Acacia (90-60%)Guar (10-40%) : Tamarind (20-80%): Acacia (10-40%)According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a binder/adhesive composition comprising a mixture of jigat and binder/adhesive composition comprising a mixture of two or more biopolymers selected from guar, maize, tamarind, Na CMC, karaya, tragacanth, ghatti, polyethylene glycol, xanthan, pectin and the like, more preferably guar, maize, acacia and tamarind gum as exemplified below. Jigat (10-90%): Gum Mixture (90-10%)Guar (10-40%): Maize (90-60%)Guar (10-40%) : Tamarind (90-60%)Guar (10-40%) : Maize (20-80%) : Acacia (10-40%)Guar (10-40%) : Acacia (90-60%)Guar (10-40%) : Tamarind (20-80%) : Acacia (10-40%)According to the further aspect of the present invention there is provided agarbattis and the like, comprising a binder/adhesive composition and other conventional raw materials, where the binder/adhesive composition comprising a mixture of jigat and at least one biopolymer selected from guar, maize,tamarind, ghatti, tragacanth, xanthan, pectin, Na CMC, Na alginate and gum karaya and the like more preferably guar, maize and tamarind gum.According to the yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided agarbattis comprising a binder/adhesive composition with other conventional raw materials, where the binder/adhesive composition comprising a mixture of two or more biopolymers selected from guar, maize, tamarind, Na CMC, karaya, tragacanth, ghatti, polyethylene glycol, xanthan, pectin and the like more preferably guar, maize, acacia and tamarind gum as exemplified below.Guar (10-40%) : Maize (90-60%)Guar (10-40%) : Tamarind (90-60%)Guar (10-40%) : Maize (20-80%) : Acacia (10-40%)Guar (10-40%) : Acacia (90-60%)Guar (10-40%) : Tamarind (20-80%): Acacia (10-40%)Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide a novel masala composition compring of said binder/adhesive composition with conventional raw materials of agarbatti and at least one of the selected alkali metal salts as citrates, tartrates, acetates, malates, formats, phosphates, nitrates and carbonates, preferably potassium nitrate.

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Specification

Field of Invention
The present invention relates to binder/adhesive composition for agarbattis (incense sticks). The present invention also relates to Agarbattis comprising the binder/adhesive composition.
Background and Prior Art
Agarbattis (incense sticks) have been used for thousand of years in the religious custom of all the communities in Asian countries like India, China, Japan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka etc. The manufacture of agarbatti in India is still essentially a cottage industry and there has not been much of technical advancement. Agarbattis are made from raw materials of plant origin like fragrant wood dust such as sandalwood, agar wood (Rao et. al., 1961), charcoal and natural resins. Over decades natural fragrances have been partially replaced by synthetic fragrances. The essential raw materials for the agarbatti industry are mostly forest based raw materials such as wood, roots, leaves, bark, flowers, seeds and resins, aromatic chemicals and perfumes. One of the crucial ingredient used in the Agarbatti manufacture is the binder and a natural binder derived from bark of Machilus macrantha tree. The bark is taken out from the tree and made into powder and the powder is used as binder/adhesive. This material is commonly known as "jigat". Jigat means "sticky" in Kannada and Telugu languages. On addition of water, it forms an ideal material to bind other raw materials on a bamboo splint. Besides having good binding properties with other raw materials, jigat does not alter the deisgned aroma of perfumed sticks. Therefore, jigat is the most suitable and preferred binder/adhesive for the making of Agarbattis primarily due to its excellent binding properties. The other main advantage of this material is that it does not interfere with the perfume and other functional aspects of Agarbatti.
Due to enormous growth of the Agarbatti industry the demand for jigat has also grown. As a result, the tree M macrantha has been overlapped and is threatened with extinction.
The tree occurs in the natural forests of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Goa and Orissa. The tree is densely foliaceous, 35 m tall and 2.5 m in girth at maturity.
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As the tree is threatened with extinction (declared as endangered in 100 red listed medicinal plants of conservation concern in Southern India), the sourcing of Jigat has been a problem and the price of jigat is also rapidly on the rise. Several studies and research has been conducted by different institution with a view to find a suitable substitute for jigat.
Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun (Ministry of Environment and Forest) has rendered service and research support to forest based industry in India. The organization has already developed few technologies/processes to stop harvesting non wood forest products from threatened and endangered species. FRI has developed an adhesive for agarbatti making named as "FRI-Jigat", which is claimed to be a complete substitute of jigat (Soni, P.L., 1994). Indian Patent No. 189452 of FRI relates to 'An adhesive for agarbatti making'. This adhesive is not at all related with any forest product of commercial interest, but otherwise economically competitive. This adhesive was extracted from a wild shrub called as Cassia tora. The extraction process of adhesive is not commercialized and hence FRI-Jigat is not available at all.
Theagarajan et. al. (1997), in collaboration with M/s Aswathaiah & Bros., Bangalore, 560021, screened fruits, seeds, barks and gums from 20 different plants and reported that partial substitution can be achieved by using gum (jinghan or moyna gum) collected from Lannea coromandelica. They have stated that agarbatti made by using jigat and moyna gum in 1: 1 ratio as binding agent are 20% cheaper. The procurement of Moyna gum is a problem. Except Gujarat state, no organized collection of gum from Moyna (Lannea coromandelica) tree is reported from any other state. This gum is available on a small scale in Gujarat with a capacity of 100 tonnes/year. Therefore, the consumption of Jigat and Moyna does not address the huge demand in the market and has therefore not found success. Furthermore, this study does not include the perfume absorption and sensory profile of the final product.
Studies were conducted by Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore. Scientific debarking experiments were carried out on sixty-one M. macrantha and Cinnamomum trees in Kodegu and Hassan districts of Karnataka with co-operation of Karnataka forest department. Leaving one or two strips of the bark intact along with the trunk of the tree and spraying the trees with insecticide/fungicide mixture soon after debarking helped in its survival. This method was found to be very satisfactory with least
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damage to living trees and good regeneration of bark. The findings are quite useful but the implementation thereof is a serious problem because skilled labors are required for the modified debarking technique. Besides even the regulated debarking does not promise to meet the demands in industry in the days to come.
M. macrantha is a very slow growing tree species. It takes approximately 20-30 years to grow to required girth to produce sufficient bark, therefore farmers can not be easily approached to raise plantations. Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore has initiated research with the objective to develop a fast growing clone of the species with an ultimate aim of raising plantation. The work to develop fast growing clone is at a very preliminary stage.
There is therefore a long felt need to provide an effective substitute for jigat, which is cost effective and also has the requisite binding properties. Besides, the effectiveness in terms of fragrance profile is also an important aspect to be met. The binder also has a role to play in the processability of the agarbattis, which are hand rolled. Low process ability would affect the rolling process and therefore the productivity of agarbattis. Therefore the substitute for jigat would also need 1o support the fragrance profile and good processability. None of the studies/research undertaken so far has been able to provide a good substitute.
The inventors have now found that jigat may be partially substituted by a mixture of jigat and at least one biopolymer selected from guar, maize, tamarind, acacia gums and the like for use as binder in agarbattis.
The inventors have also found that jigat may be completely substituted by a mixture of two or more biopolymers selected from guar, maize, acacia, tamarind gums and the like for use as binder in agarbattis.
Objects of the Invention
Thus an object of the present invention is to provide a novel binder/adhesive composition for agarbattis (insence sticks) that has all the benefits of jigat and can be freely sourced in a cost effective manner and thus become a total or partial substitute for jigat.
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A further object is to provide agarabttis comprising the novel binder/adhesive composition with other typical raw materials that has good fragrance profile and processability.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an eco-friendly Agarbatti, which at the same time saves the dwindling and endangered tree species called as Machillus macarantha.
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Detailed description of the Invention
The invention relates to composition where jigat is partially substituted by a mixture of jigat and at least one biopolymer selected from guar, maize, tamarind, acacia gums and the like for use as binder in agarbattis.
The invention also relates to composition where jigat is completely substituted by a mixture of two or more biopolymers selected from guar, maize, acacia, tamarind gums and the like for use as binder in agarbattis
The applicant conducted studies with various adhesives screened based on GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) quality, availability and cold/hot set. For the purpose of the studies, 17 adhesives were short listed, which belong to exudates, extractives, natural synthetic and synthetic classes. The primary object was to find a suitable substitute for jigat or a suitable additive for jigat that would at least reduce the consumption of jigat in agarbattis.
Making of Raw Agarbattis
Agarbatti making is a manual as well as involve specially designed machines. The manual process comprises of rolling of agarbatti, drying and perfuming, whereas machine process includes dipping the bamboo sticks into masala slurry or spraying the masala composition onto the bamboo sticks.
In India, agarbatti making is essentially done by using manual rolling process. The composition of present invention may be produced by both manual and mechanical processes. The manual rolling process, which was also followed in the laboratory is described in details below.
Rolling of Agarbatti
Commercially available bamboo splints are used as the base on which the "masala" dough is rolled. Masala ingredients typically consist of spent wood and white chips of sandal (kuppam dust), charcoal and binding material. To these three major ingredients, powdered pulverized aromatic herbs, roots, buds and bark are also added. In the present experiment, only traditional raw materials i.e. jigat, charcoal and kuppam dust in 50, 40
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and 10%, respectively were used to make the control samples. In order to make the experimental samples, various adhesives were added in place of jigat (complete substitution), whereas to make agarbatti with partial substitution, a mixture of jigat and adhesive in various ratios were added. The raw materials were intimately mixed and manually kneaded to form homogeneous dough by adding required quantity of water. To enhance the burn quality of samples, 1-2% of potassium nitrate was added to the masala, when required. The dough, thus prepared, was rolled on individual bamboo splint on a wooden board. At the time of manual rolling, the wet sticks were given a coating of a dry powder called nurva consisting mainly of jigat, charcoal and kuppam dust or only kuppam dust to prevent stickiness. The runnability i.e. ease to roll dough on bamboo splints with each binding material, in partial as well as complete substitution experiments was observed and rated as good, poor and failed in comparison with control. The rolled agarbattis were dried for a period of two to four days depending on atmospheric conditions. Dried agarbattis were evaluated for burn time and burn consistency. The optimized formulations were replicated several times.
Perfuming
To assess the effect of binding material on the aroma of perfumed agarbatti, experiments
were carried out by making agarbattis with novel binders and perfumed by using regular fragrance. Dried raw agarbattis are either dipped in or brush coated with a mixture of perfumes. The raw agarbatti, which passed burn test were perfumed to determine the perfume absorption capacity by following "dipping process" using regular fragrance. The perfumed agarbattis were allowed to drain and dry for 8 hours and again checked for burn consistency and burn time. The perfume absorption was calculated as follows

Where
W1 = Initial weight of raw agarbatti
W2 = Final weight of agarbatti after dipping and drying for 8 hours
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Sensory Evaluation
The agarbattis made by partial as well as complete substitution were subjected to sensory
evaluation on parameters such as fragrance profile at all the three stages and strength,
diffusion and retentivity during pre burn, in burn and post burn, respectively by expert
panelists by following the standard paired comparison test (control vs sample).
The invention is now described with reference to following non limiting illustrative
examples
EXAMPLES
To illustrate partial substitution of Jigat by biopolymers like tamarind the following
composition was prepared and evaluated as illustrated in tables 1 and 2
Example 1: Partial Substitution with Tamarind gum
Table 1: Agarbatti Composition

S.No. Raw Materials Composition (%)
1 Jigat 20
2 Tamarind 30
3 Charcoal 40
4 Kuppam Dust 10
Table 2: Evaluation of agarbatti made by tamarind gum as partial substitute

Replications Raw A arbatti Perfumed Agarbatti

Burn Time (min.) Burn Consistency
(%) Wt.of20 raw agarbatti (gm) Perfume Absorption (%) Burn Time (min.) Burn Consistency (%)
1 40 100 16.26 22.35 45 100
2 40 100 16.31 24.22 45 100
3 40 100 16.42 26.37 45 100
Control 40 100 17.60 26.43 45 100
It'is noted that the agarbatti made from the said composition has burn quality attributes substantially similar to those of the control where only Jigat is used.
Example 2: Partial Substitution with Maize gum
To illustrate partial substitution of Jigat by biopolymers like maize gum the following composition was prepared and evaluated as illustrated in tables 3 and 4
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Table 3: Agarbatti Composition

S.No. Raw Materials Composition (%)
1 Jigat 20
2 Maize 30
3 Charcoal 40
4 Kuppam Dust 10
Table 4: Evaluation of agarbatti made by maize gum as partial substitute

Replications Raw Agarbatti Perfumed Agarbatti

Burn Time (min.) Burn Consistency
(%) Wt. of 20 raw agarbatti (gm) Perfume Absorption (%) Burn Time (min.) Burn Consistency (%)
1 45 100 17.87 32.90 50 100
2 45 100 18.52 32.88 50 100
3 45 100 16.90 34.20 50 100
Control 45 100 16.65 30.51 50 100
It is noted that the agarbatti made from the said composition has burn quality attributes substantially similar to those of the control where only Jigat is used.Example 3: Complete Substitution with Guar and Maize
To illustrate complete substitution of Jigat by biopolymers like guar and maize gum the following composition was prepared and evaluated as illustrated in tables 5 and 6
Table 5: Agarbatti Composition

S.No. Raw Materials Composition (%)
1 Guar 10
2 Maize 40
3 Charcoal 40
4 Kuppam Dust 10
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Table 6: Complete Substitution with Guar: Maize (1:4)

Replications Raw Agarbatti Perfumed Agarbatti

Burn Time (min.) Burn Consistency (%) Wt.of20 raw agarbatti (gm) Perfume Absorption (%) Burn Time (min.) Burn
Consistency (%)
1 35 100 16.00 24.44 40 100
2 35 100 15.20 26.53 40 100
3 35 100 16.40 24.66 40 100
Control 35 100 16.04 29.61 40 100
It is noted that the agarbatti made from the said composition has burn quality attributes substantially similar to those f of the control where only Jigat is used. This clearly indicates that jigat may be completed substituted by the above biopolymers and yet substantially retaining its attributes.
Example 4: Complete Substitution with Guar, Maize and Acacia
To illustrate complete substitution of Jigat by biopolymers like guar , maize and acacia
gum the following composition was prepared and evaluated as illustrated in tables 7 and 8 Table 7: Agarbatti Composition

S.No. Raw Materials Composition (%)
1 Guar 10
2 Maize 30
3 Acacia 10
4 Charcoal 40
5 Kuppam Dust 10
Table 8: Complete Substitution with Blend 2 (Guar: Maize: Acacia)

Replications Raw Agarbatti Perfumed Agarbatti

Burn Time (min.) Burn
Consistency
(%) Wtof20 raw agarbatti
(gm) Perfume Absorption (%) Burn
Time (min.) Burn Consistency (%)
1 35 100 15.40 24.37 40 100
2 35 100 15.20 23.83 40 100
3 35 100 16.40 24.58 40 100
Control 35 100 16.04 29.61 40 100
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substantially similar to those of the control where only Jigat is used. This clearly indicates that jigat may be completed substituted by the above biopolymers and yet substantially retaining its attributes
Table 9: Sensory Evaluation (Paired Comparison) of Agarbatti made by Partial as well as Complete Substitution

Type of sample Pre Burn In Burn Post Burn Remarks

Fragran ce Profile Strength Fragrance Profile Diffusion Fragrance Profile Retentivity

Control 3.7 3.7 3.3 3.6 3.1 3.0 Sample matched on impact and profile
Complete Substitution (Guar: Maize) 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.2 2.9 2.6

Control 3.8 4.0 3.2 3.7 2.8 3.2 Sample is better than control on impact and profile
Complete Substitution (Guar:Maize:A cacia) 3.6 3.6 3.6 4.0 3.4 3.4

Control 3.8 3.9 3.5 3.5 3.3 3.2 Sample is slightly low on impact and profile
Partial Substitution Tamarind: Jigat 2.8 9 ft 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.5

Control 3.6 3.4 3.2 3.1 2.9 2.6 Sample matched with control on impact and profile
Partial Substitution Maize: Jigat 3.6 3.3 3.0 2.8 2.8 2.8

Advantages
The developed agarbatti composition has the following main advantages.
1. Maize gum as partial substitute has potential to reduce 25% cost per kg on
existing binder (jigat 38 Rs/kg) and 10% on raw agarbatti.
2. A mixture of Guar and maize in 1:4 ratio has potential to reduce 22% cost on
existing binder and 7% on raw agarbatti.
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3. A mixture of Guar, Maize and Acaica in 1:3:1 ratio is however slightly expansive
but the cost of overall product would be reduced as the perfume absorption
(costliest part of the product) is lesser and at the same time surprisingly it offers
superior sensory evaluation.
4. Gums used in formulations are agro biopolymer and not related to any forest
depletion and therefore would be as asset to save the endangered and threatened
tree species M. macrantha, which is the source of jigat.
References
Rao, P. S., Bhatia, Kuldip and Pathak, T. C. (1961). Utilization of "Exhausted" Agarwood in the manufacture of Agarbatties. Ind. For., 87 (9): 551-552.
Soni, P. L. (1994). An adhesive for agarbatti making. Patent Application No. 1109/Del/l 994 dated 1.9.1994.
Indian Patent No. 189452
Theagarajan, K.S., Shankarnarayana, K.H., Prabhu, V.V., Ravikumar, G. and Rajeevalochan, A.N (1997). Jinghan - a partial substitute for jigat in agarbathi manufacture. J. Sci. Ind Res. (56) Feb. 106-108.
Dated this 15th day of March 2007 (jiJU^C&^j
A. K. Chakrabarty OfS. Majumdar&Co. Applicant's Agent
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Thus according to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a binder/adhesive composition comprising a mixture of jigat and at least one biopolymer selected from guar, maize, tamarind, ghatti, tragacanth, xanthan, pectin, Na CMC, Na alginate and gum karaya and the like, more preferably guar, maize and tamarind gum in the following proportions.
Jigat 10-90% and gum 90-10%
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a binder/adhesive composition without jigat comprising a mixture of two or more biopolymersselected from guar, maize, tamarind, Na CMC, karaya, tragacanth, ghatti, polyethylene glycol, xanthan, pectin and the like, more preferably guar, maize, acacia and tamarind gum as exemplified below.
Guar (10-40%) : Maize (90-60%)
Guar (10-40%): Tamarind (90-60%)
Guar (10-40%): Maize (20-80%) : Acacia (10-40%)
Guar (10-40%) : Acacia (90-60%)
Guar (10-40%) : Tamarind (20-80%): Acacia (10-40%)
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a binder/adhesive composition comprising a mixture of jigat and binder/adhesive composition comprising a mixture of two or more biopolymers selected from guar, maize, tamarind, Na CMC, karaya, tragacanth, ghatti, polyethylene glycol, xanthan, pectin and the like, more preferably guar, maize, acacia and tamarind gum as exemplified below.
Jigat (10-90%): Gum Mixture (90-10%)
Guar (10-40%): Maize (90-60%)
Guar (10-40%) : Tamarind (90-60%)
Guar (10-40%) : Maize (20-80%) : Acacia (10-40%)
Guar (10-40%) : Acacia (90-60%)
Guar (10-40%) : Tamarind (20-80%) : Acacia (10-40%)
According to the further aspect of the present invention there is provided agarbattis and the like, comprising a binder/adhesive composition and other conventional raw materials, where the binder/adhesive composition comprising a mixture of jigat and at least one biopolymer selected from guar, maize., tamarind, ghatti, tragacanth, xanthan, pectin, Na CMC, Na alginate and gum karaya and the like more preferably guar, maize and tamarind gum.
According to the yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided agarbattis comprising a binder/adhesive composition with other conventional raw materials, where the binder/adhesive composition comprising a mixture of two or more biopolymers selected from guar, maize, tamarind, Na CMC, karaya, tragacanth, ghatti, polyethylene glycol, xanthan, pectin and the like more preferably guar, maize, acacia and tamarind gum as exemplified below.
Guar (10-40%) : Maize (90-60%)
Guar (10-40%) : Tamarind (90-60%)
Guar (10-40%) : Maize (20-80%) : Acacia (10-40%)
Guar (10-40%) : Acacia (90-60%)
Guar (10-40%) : Tamarind (20-80%): Acacia (10-40%)
Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide a novel masala composition compring of said binder/adhesive composition with conventional raw materials of agarbatti and at least one of the selected alkali metal salts as citrates, tartrates, acetates, malates, formats, phosphates, nitrates and carbonates, preferably potassium nitrate.

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