Title of Invention

"A PROCESS FOR PREPARATION OF A COATING COMPONENT FOR COATING FRUITS, VEGETABLES, PLANTS AND HAIR"

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process for preparation of a coating component for coating fruit, vegetables, plants and hair comprising the steps of reacting industrial waste, cooling the reaction mixture, withdarwing said lower layer of said mixture and reacting the filtrate, washing precipitate with solvent and obtaining the coating component. The coating component is used for making formulations for fruit shine or leaft shine and hair setting.

Full Text

The present invention relates to a process for preparation of a coating component for coating fruit, vegetables, plants and hair. The invention relates to a coating for natural gloss and non-refrigerative preservation of agricultural products, particularly the present invention relates to a coating for natural gloss and non-refrigerative preservation of fruits, vegetables and plant material, even more particularly, the present invention relates to a coating for natural gloss and non refrigerative preservation of fruits, vegetables and plant materials, and to the method of preparation of the said coating. Background of the Invention: The main controlling factor for overall output of agricultural products, particularly of fruits and vegetables, in addition to various other factors, is the method of their preservation for longer duration till they reach the consumers. It is well known fact that, quite a large percentage of total output of fruits and vegetables get spoiled before it reaches to the fruit and vegetable markets, further percentage of such agricultural products get spoiled before it reaches to the consumer. Normally such period of transportation of fruits and vegetables from farm site to the consumer end varies from 2 to 20 days, mostly between 5 to 15 days depending upon the distance between the farm site and end consumer, means of transport and channel of movement of agricultural products. Such period of transportation can be more than 20 days, if the agricultural products are stored before reaching the end consumer. Therefore, the emphasis had been given to develop the methods and means for preservation of agricultural products, particularly fruits and vegetables for consumption by consumers, and to a certain extent to plants and their leaves for exterior and/or interior decoration, so that the overall output of such products can be effectively increased, which is directly related to their overall sale. Further, the overall sale of such agricultural products also depend on their appearance, meaning their aesthetic look, particularly on the natural gloss of the product, which is directly related to food value of such products, particularly of fruits and vegetables. If the look of such products is dull or dirty or shabby the customer will rarely prefer to accept such a product. The customer accepts such dirty looking products only on heavily reduced price. Therefore, the fruits and vegetables, and plants and plant leaves, particularly having medicinal value, merchants try to maintain the aesthetic look, particularly the natural gloss, which in-turn results in increase in food value, of such products. Such requirements have led to search for means to maintain and also to enhance the natural gloss of the agricultural products in order to maintain good sale price. Such requirements have led to search for means to maintain and also to enhance the natural gloss of the agricultural products in order to maintain good sale price. Over past few years some methods have been developed to maintain and/or enhance the natural gloss of the agricultural products. One such method of common use to preserve natural gloss is the scrubbing and rubbing of the agricultural product with a dry and clean cloth. This method helps only to clean the product's skin, and hence to remove foreign deposits to maintain the natural gloss. The major drawback of such method is that it is highly time consuming and laborious, because each piece of agricultural product has to be scrubbed and rubbed individually. Further disadvantage of such known method is that it may spoil the texture of the product, because individual pieces are to be cleaned manually. Another disadvantage of such known method is that it causes injury to the fruit surface and make it more susceptible to attack by pathogens, harmful insects and environmental influences. Another known method to maintain the natural gloss of the agricultural product is to wash it with water. This method also has the drawback of being performed individually and manually for better results. Further, it adds to consumption of large quantity of water. Still further, the chances of transfer of water impurities onto the agricultural product is increased, particularly when such product has got cuts, which may result in early spoilage of such product. Further this washing with water may introduce large moisture contents, which apart from increasing susceptibility to oxidation and other chemical changes also increases their weight due to moisture, that may not be acceptable to customers paying for low value of the fruit or such other agricultural products. Still another known method to enhance the natural gloss of the agricultural product is to apply ripening agents. The major disadvantage of such known methods is that, such known methods generally help only to enhance the gloss and do not maintain the gloss, particularly such method may enhances process of formation of natural gloss but simultaneously may also result in over-ripening of the agricultural product and hence may result in higher level of spoilage of the agricultural product. Further, this method is highly quantitative specific in nature, that is if quantity of the ripening agent is less, the process of formation of natural gloss will be slow and may not be complete. On the contrary, if quantity of the ripening agent is more, the process of formation of natural gloss will be fast and agricultural products, particularly fruits and vegetables will get over-ripen, which will result in their rejection by customers. Still further, the ripening agents are generally not applied onto the surface of the agricultural products, but are kept in the packets or pouches, which in-turn are kept in-side the boxes transporting agricultural products. Such an arrangement of packets or pouches demands for their check-up at a regular interval and further the agricultural products, particularly fruits and vegetables in the close surrounding of the packets or pouches of the ripening agent get more ripen than the fruits and vegetables away from the packets or pouches of the ripening agent, which results in non-uniform ripening of agricultural product and hence non-uniform formation of natural gloss. Yet another drawback of such known methods is that, the ripening agents are required to be kept in specifically designed packets or pouches to give uniform ripening to certain extent, hence uniform formation of gloss. Still another disadvantage of use of ripening agents is that they are synthetic chemicals and toxic in nature. Yet another limitation of such known methods is that, these are not suitable for plants and plant leaves. Yet another method to enhance the natural gloss of agricultural products is to apply thin coating of wax or of petroleum jelly. The major limitation of such known method is that, such a method is more applicable to plants and plant leaves, but has many disadvantage of its own. The another disadvantage of such known method is that the coating of the wax or petroleum jelly are generally water insoluble, therefore, their removal before consumption of agricultural product is difficult. The major disadvantage of the above described methods is that, they are limited to increase or maintain natural gloss and are not suitable for preserving the agricultural products. The another set of methods known in the prior art have their application mainly for preservation of agricultural products. One such known method of the prior art is to dry the agricultural product by evacuation or in open air. The major disadvantage of such known method is that, this result in the loss of all natural juices and water content of the agricultural product, which in-turn results in the remains of pulp. The product's natural nutritional value is reduced drastically. The another known method to preserve the agricultural product is by placing the agricultural products, particularly the fruits and vegetables in the preservatives. The main disadvantage of such known method is that, the preservatives are chemical in nature and are quantity specific as that of ripening agents, described herein above. Further, such known preservatives result in change of natural color of the product resulting in loss of natural gloss. Still another known method of preservation of the agricultural products, now less common in use, is to place the products in sugar or salt solution. The main disadvantage of such known method is that the osmosis process, which occurs automatically on dipping the product in sugar or salt solution, reduces the food value of the product and results in addition of salt or sugar in the product. Further, the sugar or salt solution can be used only once, which in turn adds to the cost of the process. Yet another known method to preserve the agricultural product is to expose the products to smoke. This method results in killing of microbes, which in turn results in increase of shelf life of the agricultural product. The main drawback of such known method is that, such method requires special arrangements and costly equipment. Another drawback of such known method is that, when the products are required to be taken out from the smoked room/chamber, the person performing the job will face suffocation and if smoke is allowed to released to overcome this drawback, the environmental degradation is obvious and the re-smoking becomes essential for further use, resulting in increase in cost of the process. Still another known method to preserve the agricultural products is to preserve them in cans. The major disadvantage of such known method is that, this requires special cans, which are generally flushed with nitrogen gas, which makes the process very expensive and out of reach of many small venders. Yet another known method to preserve the agricultural products is to freeze them or to store them in a refrigerator. The major disadvantage of such known method is that, this also requires special arrangements for refrigeration, which are generally very expensive and out of reach of many small and medium scale venders. Further, such arrangements of refrigeration can not be made at every place of requirements, hence resulting in less popularity of the method. Yet another known method to preserve the agricultural products is to expose them to radiation. The major disadvantage of such known method is that, this also requires special arrangements for exposure of products to radiation and such arrangements are very expensive and out of reach of many small and medium scale venders. Further, such arrangements can not be made at every place of requirements, hence resulting in less popularity of this method. The major disadvantage of the above described methods is that, they are either suitable to increase or maintain natural gloss, to preserve the agricultural products, that is the methods as described herein above are generally not suitable for both the requirements, that is to increase and maintain natural gloss, and to preserve the agricultural products. Need of the Invention: Therefore, there is need to have a method, preferably to have a coating, which can over come some of the drawbacks and disadvantages of the known methods and coatings, as described herein above, and are suitable for both the requirements, that is to increase and maintain natural gloss, and to preserve the agricultural products. Objects of the Invention: The main object of the present invention is to a method, preferably a coating, which can over come some of the drawbacks and disadvantages of the known methods and coatings, as described herein above, and is suitable for both the requirements, that is to increase and maintain natural gloss, and to preserve the agricultural products, particularly fruits, vegetables and plants and plant leaves. Another object of the present invention is to propose for a coating, which eliminates need of manual scrubbing, rubbing and cleaning of the agricultural product, hence is easy to use and apply onto the agricultural products. Further, its application onto the agricultural products is not time consuming and laborious. This is another object of the present invention to propose for a coating, which avoids need of excess washing with water, hence reduces the chance of transfer of water impurities onto the agricultural product, particularly onto the fruits and vegetables. Still another object of the present invention is to propose for a coating, which eliminates use of ripening agents, hence does not result in over-ripening of the agricultural product and hence reduces chances of spoilage of the agricultural product, particularly of the fruits and vegetables. Yet another object of the present invention is to propose for a coating, which is not quantity specific, that is the danger of spoilage of the agricultural product is reduced, even if the coating is applied in excess, which suggests that, the proposed coating has the advantage of being usable even by unskilled labour. This is yet an object of the present invention to disclose a coating, which can be applied onto the surface of the agricultural products, and not required to be kept in the packets or pouches, therefore eliminates use of specially designed packets or pouches and check-up at a regular interval. This is yet another object of the present invention to disclose a coating, which is generally water soluble, therefore, its removal before consumption of agricultural product is easier. This is still an object of the present invention to disclose a coating, which dries up within 2-3 minutes and eliminates excess drying of the agricultural product by evacuation or in open air, hence will not result in the loss of natural juices and water contents of the agricultural product. This is still another an object of the present invention to disclose a coating, which generally eliminates use of preservatives, particularly of chemical preservatives, which are toxic in nature and result in change of natural color of the product resulting in loss of natural gloss. Still further an object of the present invention is to disclose a coating, which does not result in osmosis, hence will not reduce the food value of the product. This is still further an object of the present invention to disclose a coating, which totally eliminates the smoking, preservation in cans, in refrigerator and exposure to radiation and is economical in preparation and use. Further an object of the present invention is to disclose a coating, which comprises of natural constituents, is non-toxic and non-abrasive in nature, does not result in wrinkles on skin of the plants and fruits etc., does not stop natural respiration of plants and fruits etc., retains moisture of plants and fruits etc., and results in increase of shelf life of the agricultural products. According to the present invention, there is provided a process for preparation of a coating component for coating fruit, vegetables, plants and hair comprising: (a) reacting industrial waste of lac or purified natural lac with an alkali solution at a temperature between 45 to 90°C, cooling the reaction mixture and adding a hydrophobic solvent; (b) cooling the reaction mixture from step (a) to ambient temperature and allowing the reaction mixture to stand for upto 14 hours in a long column resulting in separation of said reaction mixture into two visually distinct layers, the two layers being an upper layer and a lower layer; (c) withdrawing said lower layer of said reaction mixture from the bottom of said long column, cooling the withdrawn reaction mixture to about 10°C and maintaining at this temperature for about 5 hours, reacting with a bleach solution having a chlorine content of 3 to 8% till the colour of the reaction mixture changes to yellowish white, keeping the reaction mixture upto 14 hours, filtering the reaction mixture to obtain filtrate; and (d) reacting the filtrate with sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid resulting in precipitate, washing the precipitate with a solvent to remove acid ions, thereby obtaining the coating component. According to the present invention, there is also provided a coating component prepared by the process comprising reacting industrial waste of lac or purified lac with an alkali solution, adding a hydrophobic solvent, withdrawing the lower layer of reaction mixture, reacting the reaction mixture with a bleach solution, filtering reacting the filtrate with hydrochloric acid or sulphuric acid to get precipitate and washing said precipitate to remove acid ions. Description of the Invention: Accordingly the present invention completely discloses a coating, which is suitable to increase and maintain natural gloss of the agricultural products, and to preserve the agricultural products, particularly fruits, vegetables, and plants and plant leaves and such disclosed coating comprises of natural constituents, is non-toxic and non-abrasive in nature, does not result in wrinkles on skin of the plants and fruits etc., does not stop natural respiration of plants and fruits etc., retains moisture imparts of plants and fruits etc., results in increase of shelf life of the agricultural products. In accordance to the present invention a natural material based coating is disclosed, which is completely water soluble and can provide natural gloss to fruits, vegetables, plants and plant leaves. The presently disclosed coating when applied to fruits, vegetables, plants and plant leaves provide a natural coating, which is aesthetically more appealing, attracts the buyers for a purchase at the same time enhances the shelf life of the agricultural product, particularly of fruits, vegetables, plants and plant leaves. The present disclosed coating has the advantage that, it can be applied either by the spray techniques or by dip coating methodology. Further, it does not hamper photosynthesis of a living plant, fruits and vegetables and helps them to retain their moisture contents. Further, the presently disclosed coating can be used as anti-wrinkle and anti-ageing of various other materials. In accordance to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the presently disclosed coating essentially comprises of a natural raw material, which is primarily indigenous to India and Thailand. The said natural raw material can also be obtained from wastes of lac, which is usually thrown as garbage, by a presently disclosed recovery method. The presently disclosed coating is not limited to the use of said natural raw material recovered from the wastes of lac. In accordance to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the natural raw material can also be recovered from the naturally occurring lac by the presently disclosed recovery method. According to the presently disclosed invention, the lac waste, particularly lac mud, collected from the industrial wastes of lac processing industries is treated with aqueous basic solution, particularly with saturated sodium bicarbonate, preferably in the ratio of 1:3 in a beaker, which is then filtered to recover the semi-solid precipitates, preferably the brown colored precipitates, which are in-turn treated with solution of alkali or alkaline earth metal, preferably with sodium carbonate at about 45 to 90°C, preferably between 50 to 70°C. The temperature of the reaction is brought down and a hydrophobic solvent, preferably benzene is added to the reacting mass. The temperature is further allowed to reduce and the reacted mass is allowed to stand at room temperature preferably up to 14 hrs, preferably in a long glass column. The lower layer is withdrawn from the bottom of the column and is cooled to about 10°C and maintained at this temperature for about 5 hrs, which is then allowed to react with bleach solution, preferably having chlorine content of about 3 to 8%, more preferably about 4 to 5%. The completion of reaction is indicated by change in color preferably to yellowish white. The reacted mass is left undisturbed preferably up to 14 hrs at about room temperature. The reacted mass is filtered and acidified with acidic solution preferably with hydrochloric acid (HC1), sulphuric acid (H2SO4), nitric acid (HNO3) or phosphoric acid (H3PO4), more preferably with hydrochloric acid (HC1), even more preferably with dilute hydrochloric acid (HC1), still more preferably with HC1 : H2O in 1:1 ratio. The precipitated product is washed with cold water till it is free from chloride, sulphate, phosphate or nitrate ions as the case may be, which can be tested by any known method. In accordance to the present disclosed invention the finally obtained product has shown strong absorptions at 3421, 2917, 2849, 1734, 1710, 1473, 1247, 1035, 717 cm-' in its IR spectra indicating the presence of acid/ester groups and aliphatic nature of the product, which is herein after referred to as product-C. In accordance to one of the preferred embodiments of the presently disclosed invention the presently disclosed coating essentially comprises of the said product-C, which comprises of acid/ester groups and is of aliphatic nature. In accordance to the present invention about 10 to 15 gms of the said product-C is dissolved in aqueous alcoholic solvent, to which polyethylene glycol, camphor, triethanolamine, benzoic acid are added. In accordance to one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the aqueous alcoholic solvent is preferably aqueous methanolic, ethanolic, iso-propanol or amyl alcoholic solvent, more preferably in about 100 ml of aqueous methanolic, ethanolic or iso-propanol alcoholic solvent, to which about 2 to 4% of polyethylene glycol, about 0.1 to 0.4% of benzoic acid are added. In accordance to presently disclosed invention about 1 to 5% of oleic acid is added to the resulted composition to result in coating suitable for fruits and vegetables. In accordance to yet another preferred embodiment the presently invention, benzoic acid is replaced by sodium-o-phenylphenate. In accordance to still another preferred embodiment the present invention, the aqueous alcoholic solvent is preferably aqueous ethanolic or methanolic solvent, more preferably in about 100 ml of aqueous ethanolic or methanolic solvent, to which about 2 to 4% of polyethylene glycol, about 0.1 to 0.5% of camphor, about 2 to 5% of triethanolamine, and 0.1 to 0.4% of benzoic acid are added. In accordance to presently disclosed invention, the resulted composition of coating is suitable for plants and plant leaves. The presently disclosed invention has been described with one set of coating for fruits, vegetables and plants and plant leaves, which are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It is obvious that, a minor modification in the composition of the presently disclosed coating is possible without deviating from the scope of the present invention. The typical examples of formulations prepared based on the presently disclosed product-C includes formulation for fruit shine, formulation for leaf shine, formulation for hair setting and/or shine, formulation for shine and curl retention of hair. The disclosure of such formulations is the objects of the present invention. In accordance to the preferred embodiment of the present invention the formulation for fruit shine comprises of product-C, aqueous alcohol, polyethylene glycol, camphor, triethanolamine, oleic acid, benzoic acid or alternately sodium-o-phenylphenateisopropanol. In accordance to one of the preferred embodiments of this invention the formulation for shine of fruits particularly comprises of about 12-14g of product-C, about 100 ml of aqueous alcohol, about 2-4% of polyethylene glycol, about 0.1% of camphor, about 3% of triethanolamine, about 2-4% of oleic acid, about 0.2% of benzoic acid or alternately about 0.1-0.4% of sodium-o-phenylphenateisopropanol. The aqueous alcohol is preferably mixture of isopropanol and water in 7:3 ratio. In accordance to the preferred embodiment of the present invention the formulation for leaf shine comprises of product-C, aqueous alcohol, polyethylene glycol, camphor, triethanolamine, benzoic acid. In accordance to one of the preferred embodiments of this invention the formulation for shine of leaves particularly comprises of about lOg of product-C, about 100 ml of aqueous alcohol, about 2 ml of polyethylene glycol, about 0.35 g of camphor, about 3 ml of tri-ethanolamine, about 0. 1 g of benzoic acid. The aqueous alcohol is preferably mixture of ethanol or methanol and water of alternately a mixture of isopropanol and water in 7:3 ratio. In accordance to the preferred embodiment of the present invention the formulation for hair shine and setting comprises of product-C, sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, water, polyethylene glycol, tri-ethanolamine, ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid and a perfume. In accordance to one of the preferred embodiments of this invention the formulation for shine of fruits particularly comprises of about 2.5% of product-C, about 25% of sodium hydroxide, about 60% of 10% hydrochloric acid, about 1000 ml of water, about 10% of polyethylene glycol, about 25% of tri-ethanolamine, about 3% of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid and about 0.1% of perfume. The said perfume can be selected from any such known perfume, which is commonly used for hair spray. In accordance to the preferred embodiment of the present invention for formulation for hair shine and setting comprises of product-C, sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, water, polyethylene glycol, tri-ethanolamine, ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid and sandalwood oil. In accordance to one of the preferred embodiments of this invention the formulation for hair shine and setting particularly comprises of about 0.5g of product-C, about 5 ml of 10% of sodium hydroxide solution, about 12 ml of hydrochloric acid, about 20 ml of water, about 2 ml of polyethylene glycol, about 5 ml of tri-ethanolamine, about 0.6 g of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid and about 0.2 ml of sandalwood oil. For extra nourishment about 0.2% of carrot oil and orange oil are added to this formulation. The presently disclosed invention has been described with one set of coating for fruits, vegetables and plants and plant leaves, and one typical formulation for shine of fruits, leaf, hairs, which are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It is obvious that, a minor modification in the composition of the presently disclosed coating is possible without deviating from the scope of the present invention. WE CLAIM: 1. A process for preparation of a coating component for coating fruit, vegetables, plants and hair comprising: (a) reacting industrial waste of lac or purified natural lac with an alkali solution at a temperature between 45 to 90°C, cooling the reaction mixture and adding a hydrophobic solvent; (b) cooling the reaction mixture from step (a) to ambient temperature and allowing the reaction mixture to stand for upto 14 hours in a long column resulting in separation of said reaction mixture into two visually distinct layers, the two layers being an upper layer and a lower layer; (c) withdrawing said lower layer of said reaction mixture from the bottom of said long column, cooling the withdrawn reaction mixture to about 10°C and maintaining at this temperature for about 5 hours, reacting with a bleach solution having a chlorine content of 3 to 8% till the colour of the reaction mixture changes to yellowish white, keeping the reaction mixture upto 14 hours, filtering the reaction mixture to obtain filtrate; (d) reacting the filtrate with sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid resulting in precipitate, washing the precipitate with a solvent to remove acid ions, thereby obtaining the coating component. 2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the temperature in step (a) is maintained from 50 to 70°C. 3. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (a) the alkali solution comprises sodium carbonate. 4. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (a) the hydrophobic solvent is benzene. 5. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (c) the bleach solution has a chlorine content of 4 to 5%. 6. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step (d) the acid is hydrochloric acid. 7. A process as claimed in claim 6, wherein the acid is dilute hydrochloric acid with ratio of HC1 to H2O as 1:1. 8. A coating component prepared by the process as claimed in any of the preceding claims comprising reacting industrial waste of lac or purified lac with an alkali solution, adding a hydrophobic solvent, withdrawing the lower layer of reaction mixture, reacting the reaction mixture with a bleach solution, filtering reacting the filtrate with hydrochloric acid or sulphuric acid to get precipitate and washing said precipitate to remove acid ions. 9. A coating component as claimed in claim 8, as and when used for making formulations for fruit shine or leaf shine or hair shine and hair setting. 10. A process for preparation of a coating component for coating component for fruit, vegetables, plants and hair substantially as hereinbefore described.

Documents:

702-del-1999-abstract.pdf

702-del-1999-claims.pdf

702-del-1999-correspondence-others.pdf

702-del-1999-correspondence-po.pdf

702-del-1999-description (complete).pdf

702-del-1999-form-1.pdf

702-del-1999-form-13.pdf

702-del-1999-form-19.pdf

702-del-1999-form-2.pdf

702-del-1999-form-3.pdf

702-del-1999-form-5.pdf

702-del-1999-gpa.pdf