Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates to an eco-friendly, biodegradable straws made up of rice. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to eco-friendly, biodegradable straws made up of rice and manufacturing process for the same.

BACKGROUND
Single-use plastic straws have long been a staple in our society. However, their convenience comes at a significant environmental cost. For every plastic straw manufactured, equivalent of 140 g of CO2 is released into the atmosphere contributing to greenhouse effect. Plastic straws are not recyclable, so they end up in landfills and incinerators as well as littering our streets, parks and roadsides, clogging our gutters, rivers, lakes, streams, and polluting our environment where they may persist for more than 200 years. These small, lightweight items are easily carried by wind and washed into the oceans, seas, rivers, etc. Every year, billions of plastic straws end up in landfills, rivers, seas and oceans, posing a severe threat to marine life and ecosystems. Report states that 50 million plastic straws are used in the US per day, and around 4.4 billion straws are thrown away every year in the UK. Scientists have estimated that 7.5 million straws pollute US coastlines every year, whereas about 437 million to 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute coastlines around the world. Plastic straws contribute to about 1% of the plastic waste in the sea. Most plastic straws simply break into ever-smaller particles, releasing chemicals into the soil, air, and water that are harmful to animals, plants, people, and the environment. These plastic straws can persist in the environment for hundreds of years, continuing to harm wildlife and pollute our planet long after its brief usefulness to humans.

Various solutions have been offered to address the problems associated with plastic waste, such as circular business models along with increased collection and processing. The Central Government of India banned the manufacture, distribution, stocking, sale and use of selected 19 single-use plastic items in July, 2022, including plastic straws. The European Union has banned single-use plastic straws, forks, knives and cotton buds. International companies like Starbucks, McDonald's, The Queen of England & Wales, American Airlines, etc. have taken a strong position against the use of plastic straws. However, for any of these solutions to work there is a need to change individual behavior. Also, there must be awareness of the environmental impact of single-use plastic straws and the availability of reasonably priced eco-friendly alternatives.

Nonetheless, in the recent years, the increasing awareness about the detrimental impact of plastic on human and animal health and environment has led to an enthralling demand for eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastics. Paper straws are being widely used as a replacement to plastic straws. However, paper straws are not durable and typically more expensive than plastic straws. The paper straws lose their mechanical/structural integrity as soon as they come in contact with a beverage. The longer the paper straw sits in the cup, the more your drink tastes like a damp newspaper and that may also alter the taste of the drink. Also, paper straws are one of the leading causes of deforestation.
Several efforts have been made in the past to develop eco-friendly straws. Traditionally paper straws have always been manufactured and sold without any audits. None of the raw materials are checked/certified if they are meant for human consumption. Most of the manufacturers still use low grade of paper and non-edible grade of glue is used for manufacturing paper straws. Further, paper straws examined by the researchers were largely found to be laden with per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as “forever chemicals.” This not only means that the straws likely aren’t biodegradable, but that they are vectors for chemicals considered hazardous to human and environmental health.
US Pat. No. 11666164 teaches a biodegradable single-use soy protein straw comprising soy protein isolate, glycerol, confectioner's glaze, and sodium hydroxide. Another US Pat. Appl. No. 20210345803 teaches a disposable drinking straw comprised of a biodegradable material formed by an elongated tubular body formed from corn stalk-based ingredients and a biodegradable hardening agent which aids the straws structural integrity. However, the known eco-friendly straws are typically single-use and disposable.

Eco-friendly, biodegradable straws offer a compelling alternative to their disposable counterparts. These sustainable and/or biodegradable alternatives could be made from materials such as stainless steel, bamboo, glass, or food-grade silicone. However, it is equally important that these eco-friendly, bio-degradable straws be manufactured using a facile process without the use of any chemicals.

India is one of the largest producers of rice. Tons of rice is wasted in transit at FCI warehouses and ultimately it is thrown away. The inventors through present disclosure wishes to utilize these unused grains and up cycle it for making straws.
Further, straw manufacturing market in India has always been unstructured; the inventors for the present disclosure has structured the market and created rice straws from procuring raw materials from the mills, followed good manufacturing practice (GMP), made it in a fully automatic plant, possess relevant certifications, packaged with utmost care and hygiene. Therefore, the present disclosure aims to use rice which grow abundantly for making food-grade, eco-friendly, biodegradable, compostable which decomposes within 60-90 days, and safe for consumption, gluten free, vegan and cruelty free rice straws as alternatives to single-use plastic or paper straws.

OBJECTS
Accordingly, an object of the present disclosure is to provide eco-friendly, bio-degradable straws made from rice which is a perfect sustainable alternative to waste created by plastic and paper straws.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide an eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straw which helps in solving the problem of food grain waste management.

Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide an eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straw made from natural ingredients which are food-grade, biodegradable, compostable, economical, safe for consumption, gluten free, vegan & cruelty free, and have good structural stability in fluids.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a chemical-free facile process for making eco-friendly, biodegradable straws from rice.

Other objects, aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description.

SUMMARY
According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straw.

The eco-friendly, bio-degradable straw comprises
- Rice flour 70 to 86 % of the total composition;
- Tapioca flour 10 to 12.5 % of the total composition;
- Water 18 to 19 % of the total composition;
- Sodium Tripolyphosphate 0.06 % of the total composition;
- Tricalcium Phosphate 1 to 1.25 % of the total composition;
- Xanthan Gum 0.01 to 0.012 % of the total composition;
- Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate 0.06 to 0.1% of the total composition; and
- Edible food colors 0.04 to 0.049 % of the total composition.

According to another preferred embodiment, there is provided a process for making eco-friendly reusable straws.

The process for making eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straw comprising the steps of:
- receiving raw materials rice flour and tapioca starch in a container and testing for biological contamination;
- receiving additives water, sodium tripolyphosphate, tricalcium phosphate, xanthan gum and food color, and testing for purity, shade and gum viscosity;
- blending uniformly the raw materials and the additives for 10 mins with moisture content of 18-19% (by wt.);
- sifting the blended mixture through sifter having mesh size between 100 to 149 microns;
- passing the sifted mixture through extruder at 80-90 O C to form straws;
- drying and cooling the extruded straws in a conveyor by decreasing the temperature between 60o C to 35oC gradually and then cutting the dried straws to a desired length; and
- inspecting and sorting the cooled straws for obtaining straight straws for packaging.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The description of the specific embodiments herein will reveal the general nature of the embodiments of the present disclosure that a person skilled in the art can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications without departing from the general concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications are to be comprehended within the meaning of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

The present disclosure relates to an eco-friendly straw made from rice. The eco-friendly straw is food-grade, biodegradable, economical and has good structural stability in liquids. The present disclosure also relates to a chemical-free facile process for making eco-friendly reusable straws from waste biomass.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the eco-friendly, bio-degradable straw comprises rice flour 70 to 86 % of the total composition; tapioca flour 10 to 12.5 % of the total composition; water 18 to 19 % of the total composition; sodium tripolyphosphate 0.06 % of the total composition; tricalcium phosphate 1 to 1.25 % of the total composition; xanthan gum 0.01 to 0.012 % of the total composition; potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate 0.06 to 0.1% of the total composition; and edible food colors 0.04 to 0.049 % of the total composition.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the eco-friendly, bio-degradable straw comprises edible food colors which may be selected from Red colour E 122; Blue colour E133; Green colour E 102 & E 110; Yellow colour E 102; Orange colour E 110; Black colour E 122, E102, E 133.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a process for making the eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straws. The eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straws are made using an economical, simple and safe process.

The process comprises the steps of: receiving raw materials rice flour and tapioca starch in a container and testing for biological contamination; receiving additives water, sodium tripolyphosphate, tricalcium phosphate, xanthan gum and food color, and testing for purity, shade and gum viscosity; blending uniformly the raw materials and the additives for 10 mins with moisture content of 18-19% (by wt.); sifting the blended mixture through sifter having mesh size between 100 to 149 microns; passing the sifted mixture through extruder at 80-90 O C to form straws; drying and cooling the extruded straws in a conveyor by decreasing the temperature between 60o C to 35oC gradually and then cutting the dried straws to a desired length; inspecting and sorting the cooled straws for obtaining straight straws for packaging; and packaging and storing the rice straws.

According to one preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the eco-friendly, bio-degradable straw comprises the ingredients as per below Table 1.
Table 1

Ingredients Qty 20 kg/Batch Percentage
Rice 14 70
Water 3.77 18.85
Tapioca 2 10
Keltrol xanthan gum 0.002 0.01
Calcium Triphosphate 0.200 1
Edible Food Colour 0.008 0.04
Potassium Sorbate + Sodium Benzoate 0.02 0.1
Total 20 100

According to a preferred embodiment, the eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straws have a length 200 mm and diameter in the range of 6.50 mm to 13 mm. Further, the eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straws can be customized as per the requirement.

The straws according to the present disclosure are hassle-free and environment-friendly, and meet the requirements of the Sustainable Development Goal 12 established by the United Nations in 2015. These straws are an excellent alternative to single-use plastic, paper-based and wood-based straws. The straws do not shrink or swell upon contact with liquid. The taste of the drink does not get altered using the straw. The color or the ingredients in the straws do not bleed. Further, the straws do not attract fungus and mold during its shelf life.

The rice straws were chemically and biologically tested for the shelf-life of straws for the 4th, 8th,12th and 18th month. The chemical and biological tests disclose the physical appearance, colour, odour, taste, fungus spot, moisture and alcoholic acidity; Total plate count, Yeast & Mold, E. Coli, Staphylococcus Aureus, Salmonella count of the rice straws passes in the recommended limit for 18 months. Hence, rice straws are fit for the human consumption as per the Table 2 & 3 described below.

Table 2

Table 3

The straws were subjected to liquid resistance testing where drinking water and cold beverages were used to test the longevity and liquid resistance tests of the straws. The straws were placed in water at different temperatures (0 °C, 15 °C and 25 °C) and in cold carbonated beverage. The straws were exposed to liquids for different time lengths between 0.5 hours to 3 hours. The straws were then soaked in 1 L of water to determine whether any materials leach out from the straws. The water was then analyzed for turbidity and heavy metals presence. The fold endurance test was done to determine the capacity of the straw to withstand any bending. It was found that the straws were strong enough to resist typical usage and are unbroken even after being used for multiple times. It was also found that no material/chemical/heavy metal leaches out from the straws when soaked in water.

EXAMPLES
The present disclosure will now be described with the help of following specific embodiments and/or working examples. These embodiments and/or examples are only intended to exemplify the disclosure and shall not be construed to limit the scope and ambit of the disclosure.

EXAMPLE 1
The eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straws of present disclosure were analyzed for different parameters. Results in Table 4.
Table 4

EXAMPLE 2
The eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straws of the present disclosure were tested for Gluten. Results in Table 5.
Table 5

EXAMPLE 3
The eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straws of the present disclosure were tested for Heavy metal test. Results in Table 6.
Table 6

EXAMPLE 4
The eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straws of the present disclosure were tested for bacterial & fungal contamination. Results in Table 7.

Table 7

TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES
The technical advancements of the present disclosure including, but not limited to, are,
- an eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straw made from natural ingredients which are food-grade, biodegradable, compostable, economical, safe for consumption, gluten free, vegan & cruelty free, and have good structural stability in fluids;
- a chemical free facile process for making eco-friendly, bio-degradable straws from rice;
- the eco-friendly straws are economical, and have a long shelf-life and their use is completely hazard-free.

Embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable over a wide number of uses and other embodiments may be developed beyond the embodiment discussed heretofore. Only the most preferred embodiments and their uses have been described herein for purpose of examples, illustrating the advantages over the prior art obtained through the present disclosure. The disclosure is not limited to these specific embodiments or their specified uses. Thus, the forms of the disclosure described herein are to be taken as illustrative only and other embodiments may be selected without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. It should also be understood that additional changes and modifications, within the scope of the disclosure, will be apparent to one skilled in the art and that various modifications to the disclosure, described herein may fall within the scope of the disclosure.
, C , Claims:1. An eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straw comprising:
- Rice flour 70 to 86 % of the total composition;
- Tapioca flour 10 to 12.5 % of the total composition;
- Water 18 to 19 % of the total composition;
- Sodium Tripolyphosphate 0.06 % of the total composition;
- Tricalcium Phosphate 1 to 1.25 % of the total composition;
- Xanthan Gum 0.01 to 0.012 % of the total composition;
- Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate 0.06 to 0.1% of the total composition; and
- Edible food colors 0.04 to 0.049 % of the total composition.

2. A process for making eco-friendly, bio-degradable rice straw comprising the steps of:
- receiving raw materials rice flour and tapioca starch in a container and testing for biological contamination;
- receiving additives water, sodium tripolyphosphate, tricalcium phosphate, xanthan gum and food color, and testing for purity, shade and gum viscosity;
- blending uniformly the raw materials and the additives for 10 mins with moisture content of 18-19% (by wt.);
- sifting the blended mixture through sifter having mesh size between 100 to 149 microns;
- passing the sifted mixture through extruder at 80-90 O C to form straws;
- drying and cooling the extruded straws in a conveyor by decreasing the temperature between 60o C to 35oC gradually and then cutting the dried straws to a desired length; and
- inspecting and sorting the cooled straws for obtaining straight straws for packaging.