Traditional Agarbatti Making

Agarbathi making is one of the oldest and prominent cottage industries providing employment to weaker sections of both urban and rural people, especially women Total production of agarbathi in the country during 1992-93 in terms of value was about Rs. 150 crores. Exports of Agarbathi fetched Rs. 49.1 crores during 1994-95 of which 80% is from Southern region. Production and export performance of agarabathi industry depends on availability of forest based raw materials viz., bamboo, charcoal, "Jigat" sandalwood, Halmaddi etc. Indiscriminate collection is leading to overexploitation and shortage of raw materials particularly, "Jigat"- the basic binding material which is the bark of slow growing evergreen tree Machilus macrantha. Amongst the various plant materials screened, Lannea coromandelica syn. Odina wodier (Moyna or Jinghan) gum in combination with "Jigat" in 1:1 ratio was found to be a good partial substitute and agaribathis rolled using this mixture costs 20 percent less than those rolled with pure "Jigat". Jigat; halmaddi; white chips and powder; coconut shell, coconut shell powder Incense at present: Today Incense sticks are broadly classified as either Dipped incense or Masala Incense. Dipped incense are prepared by dipping/soaking the raw charcoal based incense sticks in a diluted perfume compound known as R.T.D. ( Ready to dip compound). R.T.D is prepared by mixing a fixed part of concentrated perfume compound with a diluter eg. Diethyl Phthalate, White oil etc. The sticks suitable for dipping process are essentially made using bamboo sticks, Finely powdered Charcoal, Jigat, Sandal wood powder and Nargis powder (optional).The mixture of Charcoal powder and Jigat is called a mix. The masala batthi is made using Halmaddi as a base and finely powdered natural herbs as chief ingredients.Charcoals are also used. Here no dipping may be carried out and the herbs alone are provided in the mix in such proportions and the strong aroma they spread on burning can hardly be matched by any dipped incense sticks. Agarbatti Manufacture Jigat technology: Agarbathi making is one of the oldest cottage industries generating 30-35 million man-days of work for the sections of the society, particularly women. The binding material in agarbathi manufacture is Jigat. Jigat in Kannada and Telugu means sticky. Jigat is trade name of powdered barks of Machilus macrantha and Litsea chinensis. The bark of Machilus macrantha (Lauraceae) ,a large tree, found in Bihar and the Deccan 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 adhesive or binder in agarbathi manufacture. When mixed with water it forms an ideal material to bind wood charcoal, aromatic roots and herbs to the bamboo splint. Besides good binding properties, it combines well with other raw materials and does not influence the natural aroma of perfumed sticks. Over the years, the expansion of agarbathi industry has inflated the demands for Jigat, thereby leading to indiscriminate onslaught on Machilus trees for their bark. The result is high mortality of this species which is a valuable component of the evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of the western ghats and the north-eastern states.
AS A SUBSTITUTE:

Various organisations and Institutes were engaged for sometime on finding a substitute for Jigat, Finally the search has borne fruits and the Forest Research Institute has been able to find a substitute for "Jigat" which is not at all related with any forest product, but otherwise also economically competitive and abundantly available. The substitute developed is an agro-based biopolymer (93-95%). Laboratory trials with the substitute indicate that the new binder is better than Jigat. Samples were sent to leading agarbathi manufacturers for their assessment trials and overwhelming reports are pouring in that it is very much suitable for agarbathi making. The technology for the manufacture of the substitute is simple and can easily be translated to industrial production. It is hoped that in the near future after the transfer of technology, impending threat for the survival of Machilus macrantha / Litsea Chinensis and pressure on natural forests shall be overcome.

What are the ingredients used to make incese sticks ? The basic materials used in making incense sticks are bamboo sticks, Jiggat powder, Nurva powder, charcoal powder and perfumes. The bamboo splints are sorted out and colored at one end of the splints up to the desired length, depending on the length of bamboo splints used. The powders of Jiggat, Nurva and charcoal are mixed in the proportion 1:1:1. These powders are thoroughly mixed and sieved through a mesh and water is added to it to prepare a dough. The semi-solid dough is placed on the rolling desk and rolled over the bamboo sticks uniformly by hand. These sticks are dried in sunlight. TECHNICAL ASPECTS - Process of Manufacturing All the ingredients in powder form are mixed well in the proper proportion with water to semi-solid paste. This paste is applied to bamboo sticks and rolled on wooden planks with hands uniformly. The raw sticks are then dried and packed in suitable bundles. For manufacture of perfumed agarbathis the concentrated perfume is diluted first with white oil or di-ethylphathalate (generally 1:3) and raw agarbathis are dipped and packed immediately in butter paper bags or polypropylene bags and finally in printed cartons. The composition for masala for this is as under: White chips Gigatu or Jigat Charcoal Aromatic chemical Essential oil and other ingredients Process of Manufacture A typical formulation of Agarbatti i) Acacia Powder.... 400 gms. ii) Jigat Powder....... 100 gms. iii) Charcoal............ 250 gms. iv) Bamboo Sticks... 100 gms is as under: = 53.333 % = 13.333 % = 33.333 % = No consta en el % de la pasta

40% 20% 20% 20%

Acacia Powder, Jigat Powder, Charcoal and Sandalwood Powder etc. are mixed by hand with water to a semi-solid paste and the same is applied to sticks by rolling with hands. The rolled Agarbattis are dried, dipped in perfume and packed. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Sandal.......200gm Jigat..........200gm Charcoal....300gm Honey.......400gm Rogir.........200gm Oil.............200gm

Ingredients Mentioned in the Texts: Charcoal powder = Carbo Vegetabilis from Bamb (Bambusa vulgaris) Jigat Powder = Gigatu (Machilus macrantha or Litsea chinensis) Sandalwood Powder = Santalum album wood powder Halmaddi = Ailanthus malabarica syn. A. Tryphisa resin White chips = Acacia Wood Powder Coconut shell powder = Cocos nucifera seed powder Nargis powder = Narcisus? Nurva powder = Euphorbia antiquorum (bark powder) Jinghan or Moyna = Lannea coromandelica syn. Odina wodier.

Traditional Agarbatti Formula: Kala Agar 9 parts Aquilaria malaccensis (wood rich in resin) Khas 2 parts Vetiveria zizanoides (root powder) Nagarmotha 4 parts Cyperus rotundus (root powder) Tagar 2 parts Valeriana officinalis (root powder) Ami Haldi 2 parts Curcuma amada (rhizome powder) Chandan 18 parts Santalum album (wood powder) Gulab Kali 2 parts Rosa indica (powdered petals) Guggal 2 parts Commiphora mukul (resin) Loban 4 parts Styrax benzoin (resin) Shilaras 18 parts Boswelia serrata, Indian Frankincese (resin) Kasturi 1 part Musk (grain powder) Maida Lakdi 9 parts Litsea chinensis (bark powder as a mucilaginous binder) Gud and Bans ki seenk (Palillos de bamb com a nucli, per a aguantar la barreja) 12.32% 2.74% 5.50% 2.74% 2.74% 24.65% 2.74% 2.74% 5.50% 24.65% 1.37% 12.32% csp.