Need of environment friendly incense sticks

 

Need of environment friendly incense sticks

Incense stick is a trade product. It is burnt for fragrance. In India it is called as agarbatti. Now a day it is also called as Dhup Kandi. Traditionally incense sticks are used for worship, meditation, prayer, ceremonies, ritual purification, air fresheners, mosquito repellent and for creation of ambiance (Sinha and Deb, 2016).  These are also used for aroma therapy and as ayurvedic treatment. Dhup crystals are also used for the same purposes. Along with ajwain seeds (Trachyspermum ammi), dhup is burnt to treat cold in children. In Maharashtra the fumes of Dhup and ajwain seeds are used to baby after bath.

In India Agarbatti industry strongly depends on forest products like bamboo sticks and sticky powder known as jigat. Sticky powder is mainly obtained from the bark of some trees. Bamboos and the trees yielding gum or jigat are depleting very fast (Sinha and Deb, 2016; Hazarika et al., 2018). Therefore, searching for sound alternatives is essential.

Dhoop crystals, ajwain seeds, sandal wood powder and rose water are found to be good alternatives.

            The incense sticks or Dhoop batties are presented mainly in the form of sticks. The material with mosquito repellent potential is presented in the form of a coil.

            Charcoal powder, charcoal powder+ rice husk and charcoal powder + saw dust in 2:1 proportion is used. As a binding material paste of wheat flour and cow dung is used separately for all the three burning material combinations. Burning material and binding material affect the surface of agarbatties. Charcoal powder with both the binding material gives smooth surface. Charcoal powder with rice husk and saw dust gives smooth surface with cow dung and roughness with wheat flour paste. Therefore, as binding material cow dung found to be more suitable than wheat flour paste. Moreover, agarbatties with wheat flour paste get attacked by saprophytic fungi in storage.

            Longevity of burning is also recorded. It is observed that all combinations of burning material with all combinations of binding material show maximum burning longevity with sandal wood powder. Charcoal powder if combined with saw dust show more longevity. Charcoal powder singly is somewhat inferior with respect to burning longevity.

            Dhoop, dhoop + ajwain seeds and sandal wood powder give good smell with almost all combinations of burning  and binding material. Wheat flour paste affects the smell. Rice husk as burning material along with cow dung as binding material gives objectionable smell. Rose water as fragrance is inferior as the smell of Agarbattis is not good.

            Overall it is observed that among all the burning material, binding material and fragrance are studied, charcoal powder with saw dust is more suitable for burning longevity. Dhoop, dhoop+ ajwain seeds and sandal wood powder have good smell and cow dung is suitable to give smooth surface to agarbatties. Saw dust provides good porosity and looseness to agarbatties.

Table No. 1: Composition of eco-friendly incense sticks / dhoop batties.

Ingredients			Observations
Burning material	Binding material	Fragrance	Surface	Burning longevity	Smell quality
Charcoal powder	Wheat flour paste	Dhoop	Smooth	++	Good
		Dhoop + ajwain seeds	Smooth	++	Good
		Sandal wood powder	Smooth	+++	Good
		Rose water	Smooth	++	Fair
	Cow dung	Dhoop	Smooth	+++	Good
		Dhoop + ajwain seeds	Smooth	+++	Good
		Sandal wood powder	Smooth	++++	Good
		Rose water	Smooth	+++	Fair
Charcoal powder + Rice husk	Wheat flour paste	Dhoop	Rough	++	Fair
		Dhoop + ajwain seeds	Rough	++	Fair
		Sandal wood powder	Rough	+++	Fair
		Rose water	Rough	+++	Objectionable
	Cow dung	Dhoop	Smooth	+++	Objectionable
		Dhoop + ajwain seeds	Smooth	+++	Objectionable
		Sandal wood powder	Smooth	++++	Objectionable
		Rose water	Smooth	+++	Objectionable
Charcoal powder + Saw dust	Wheat flour paste	Dhoop	Rough	+++	Fair
		Dhoop + ajwain seeds	Rough	+++	Good
		Sandal wood powder	Rough	+++++	Good
		Rose water	Rough	++++	Objectionable
	Cow dung	Dhoop	Smooth	++++	Fair
		Dhoop + ajwain seeds	Smooth	++++	Good
		Sandal wood powder	Smooth	+++++	Good
		Rose water	Smooth	++++	Objectionable

References:

Sinha, A. K. and  Deb, S. (2016) A study on the status of incense stick making in Tripura, Northeast India. Journal of Bamboo and Rattan  Vol.15 No.1/4 pp.13-21.

Hazarika, P., Dutta, N. B., Biswas, S.C., Dutta R.C. & Jayaraj. R.S.C. 2018. Status of Agarbatti Industry in India with special reference to Northeast. Int. J. Adv. Res. Biol. Sci. 5(1): 173-186. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22192/ijarbs.2018.05.01.024.

 

Carissa carandus L. : A nutritionally important wild bio-resource

 

Carissa carandus L. : A nutritionally important wild bio-resource

 

            Carissa carandus L. is common wild plant of southwestern Maharashtra. It is known for its edible fruits. In Konkan region tender branches and tender leaves are also eaten. It is a thorny shrub growing throughout southwestern Maharashtra. It is growing in natural forests as a wild plant. In Konkan region it is used for protective hedge plantings. It belongs to family Apocynaceae. Different parts of this plant are used in various medicines. It is also mentioned as purgative and stomachic (Nizami et al., 1993). This plant is sturdy and tolerant to air pollution (Pandey, 2005), but sensitive to cement dust pollution (Iqbal and Shafiq, 2001). Fruits become dark purple seemingly black when ripe.  Ripe fruits are eaten commonly and both i.e. ripe and unripe fruits are sold in local markets. It is a seasonal bio-resource of some of the rural communities. At some places these fruits are termed as ‘Siteche Dohale’ in verhacular. In Konkan, it is observed that in addition to the ripe and unripe fruits, tender branches and tender leaves are also eaten very commonly by children. These are reddish in colour, astringent and slightly sour in taste. In vernacular these are termed as ‘Karvandache Komb’.

            Quantification of proteins, amino acids, sugars, starch, fibers, polyphenols, vitamin-C, ash, calcium and iron from the tender branches, tender leaves and unripe fruits is depicted in Table-1. Concentration of proteins and amino acids is highest in the tender leaves. Fruits are rich in sugars, starch and polyphenols. Tender branches and leaves are very rich in fibers. All the parts are rich in vitamin-C. Its concentration is higher in unripe fruits while lowest in the tender leaves. Polyphenols are also considerable in all the parts. Calcium is highest in tender branches while iron is highest in unripe fruits.

            The tender leaves, branches and unripe fruits can provide the nutrients such as proteins, amino acids, sugars and starch. Incorporation of fibers in diet is very important. Polyphenols and ascorbic acid may serve as antioxidants. Unripe fruit is the good source of iron. Therefore, the tender branches, leaves and fruits of C. carandus are important from ‘Community Health’ point of view. Especially in children these may serve as a Functional Food Supplement.

 

Table-1 : Quantification of some biochemical parameters from tender branches, tender leaves and unripe fruits of Carissa carandus L.

 

	Tender branches	Tender leaves	Unripe fruits
Proteins g/100 g	1.73	2.340	0.98
Amino acids mg/100 g	27.00	64.00	61.00
Total sugars g/100 g	2.850	5.960	10.270
Starch g/100 g	2.300	2.640	8.330
Fibers g/100 g	14.930	9.810	0.680
Polyphenols g/100 g	0.269	0.178	0.336
Vitamin C mg/100 g	190	104	226
Ash %	1.730	1.290	0.978
Calcium g/100 g	0.438	0.271	0.103
Iron mg/100 g	6.4	3.5	13.6