Development of technology for alternative material to areca leaf plants

Abstract

The plates which are made from fresh leaves or pretreated leaves, with the help of leaf plate making machine are known as leaf plates. These plates are biodegradable and are having a natural and attractive appearance. Due to the unavailability of areca leaf sheath for the production of plates, alternative leaves such as teak leaves, vattayila, fig leaves, almond leaves, fresh banana leaves, partially dried banana leaves and dried banana leaves can be used. The leaves of standardized moisture content after pre treated with turmeric solution are pressed between the dies of leaf plate making machine. For supporting the food material in the plates; pre treated leaves should be pasted to a card board of 1mm thickness. The standardized die temperature and retention time should be followed. For enhancing the shelf life of the leaf plates; should be packed in air tight LDPE (400 gauges) or PP (200 gauges). Quality parameters in terms of shelf life and overall acceptability were done in every 7 days interval. The study concluded that the procedures should follow the standardized moisture content, die temperature and retention time depending upon the type of leaves and the LDPE or PP bags were more suitable for the packaging of leaf plates. The response shown by LDPE and PP were same. The study also revealed that leaf plates made of teak leaves, dried banana leaves and vattayila are the suitable alternatives for areca leaf sheath.