13-07-2016, 02:57 PM
agarbatti making formula
Traditional Agarbatti Making
Agarbathi making is one of the oldest and prominent cottage industries providingemployment to weaker sections of both urban and rural people, especially women Totalproduction of agarbathi in the country during 1992-93 in terms of value was about Rs. 150crores. Exports of Agarbathi fetched Rs. 49.1 crores during 1994-95 of which 80% is fromSouthern region. Production and export performance of agarabathi industry depends onavailability of forest based raw materials viz., bamboo, charcoal, "Jigat" sandalwood,Halmaddi etc. Indiscriminate collection is leading to overexploitation and shortage of rawmaterials particularly, "Jigat"- the basic binding material which is the bark of slow growingevergreen tree
Machilus macrantha.
Amongst the various plant materials screened, Lanneacoromandelica syn. Odina wodier (Moyna or Jinghan) gum in combination with "Jigat" in 1:1ratio was found to be a good partial substitute and agaribathis rolled using this mixturecosts 20 percent less than those rolled with pure "Jigat".
Agarbatti Manufacture Jigat technology
:Agarbathi making is one of the oldest cottage industries generating 30-35 millionman-days of work for the sections of the society, particularly women. The binding materialin agarbathi manufacture is Jigat. Jigat in Kannada and Telugu means sticky. Jigat is tradename of powdered barks of Machilus macrantha and Litsea chinensis.The bark of Machilus macrantha (Lauraceae) ,a large tree, found in Bihar and theDeccan Peninsula has been of importance for the survival of the agarbathi (incense stick)industry in India.Powdered bark of M. macrantha known as JIGAT in trade, functions as an adhesiveor binder in agarbathi manufacture. When mixed with water it forms an ideal material tobind wood charcoal, aromatic roots and herbs to the bamboo splint. Besides good bindingproperties, it combines well with other raw materials and does not influence the naturalaroma of perfumed sticks. Over the years, the expansion of agarbathi industry has inflatedthe demands for Jigat, thereby leading to indiscriminate onslaught on Machilus trees fortheir bark. The result is high mortality of this species which is a valuable component of theevergreen and semi-evergreen forests of the western ghats and the north-eastern states.