Lanka to use banana leaves as food wrappers By T V SRIRAM

Colombo, Oct 14 (PTI) In an eco-friendly measure against
the environmental hazard caused by polythene wrappers, the Sri
Lanka government has evolved a technique to prepare food
wrappers from banana leaves.

The Sri Lankan Agriculture Ministry has claimed that it
has perfected in the technology for making available the all
pervading aromatic "cured" banana leaves and to keep it for a
longer duration without any change in its colour or quality.

"As a result on an experiment carried out at Agriculture
Research Station, Telijjawila in Southern Sri Lanka a
technique has been perfected to produce cured banana leaves
that can be kept more than one month under refrigerated
condition without any changes in colour or quality," the
ministry said.

"People have been using banana leaves to wrap food items
since ancient times and this practice is common among majority
of the cultures in the south Asia," the study said.

Meal wrapped in banana leaves has additional taste as it
gives a distinct fragrance. It also keeps the food fresh for a
longer time, the report said, adding that the non-availability
of it had led to the alternate use of plastics.

Polyethylene sheet is a convenient wrapper but these take
about more than one year to start degradation thereby creating
pollution and leading to many undesirable consequences.

"In addition, these sheets could contain various chemical
compounds which may be harmful to the humans when exposed for
a longer time period," the study said.

Describing the methodology to keep leaves fresh for long
duration, the study said well grown leaves are trimmed and
separated into pieces (45cm x 45cm) excluding the mid rib.
These pieces may be rectangular or round in shape depending on
the requirement.

"These pieces are initially washed in pure water to
remove dust and other inert particles deposited on leaves.
Thereafter curing can be done following several ways depending
on the availability of the facilities," the ministry's study
said.

The study has found four methods that can be utilised to
cure banana leaves. They include oven drying at a temperature
of 80-85 degree Centigrade for five minutes and steaming for
25-60 seconds till the appearance of olive green colour.

Leaves can also be cured by leaving them dipped in
boiling water till its green colour changes after which they
should be immediately transferred into cold water.

Besides, the banana leaves can also be processed in a
pressure cooker for a few minutes to maintain its durability,
the study said.

After curing leaves through the above methods, the leaves
should be air-dried for 8–10 hours before packing them for
storing under refrigerated conditions.

Each leaf can be packed in small boxes or aluminium foil
along with a piece of moisture absorbent paper (newspaper,
wrapping paper or paper serviette) and bundled into 10 or
20-piece packs.

These packs can be kept for 5 days under room temperature
and more then one month in a refrigerator without damaging
their original colour and quality, the ministry said in its
study report.

The study said the wrappers made of processed banana leaf
can also be warmed in microwave oven.

To ensure its availability, about 10 leaves can be
harvested from a plant per year the study said, adding each
banana leaf will provide between 5-8 pieces with a size of
45x45 cms.

"Hence from one hectare of land, a minimum of 1,20,000
wrappers can be produced," it said, adding that it would also
prove to be profitable for the growers. PTI TVS
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