Disposable vegetarian dishes
They recommend the use of disposable vegetable dishes to the whole family because of its good health benefits. The return time of disposable plastic containers to nature takes 500 to 300 years, but this time for vegetable disposable containers is five to six months without any environmental damage.
These containers are free from any harmful effects and chemical reactions in contact with hot and heat-resistant liquids and foods that cause nervous and blood diseases. Improving safety and harmony with the environment is one of the main reasons for encouraging consumers to buy these containers.
Recommendation of the Ministry of Health
The Ministry of Health emphasized on the use of single-use herbal containers that have the necessary legal permission from this Ministry in order to ensure and maintain and promote the health of the society. According to the report of the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, disposable vegetable containers (based on corn or wheat starch) that are newly produced in the country do not cause any problems for the health of the users, and due to the naturalness of their polymers, they are biodegradable and cause destruction. Neither does the environment.
The production of vegetable dishes goes back to the 1970s, but finally, in 2002, the Americans succeeded in the mass production of vegetable polymers, and from February 2006, Iranian researchers succeeded in producing these polymers, and Iran was registered as the fifth country in the world that owns this technology. .
Usually, corn, potato and wheat starches are used for this purpose in countries that have the technology to produce plant polymers. Starch is naturally a plant polymer that has hydrophilic properties. So the first step in producing a strong polymer is to eliminate this property: The addition of vegetable fatty acids such as stearic acid and oleic acid causes changes in the initial composition and the formation of an ester group with a long carbon chain creates a hydrophobic property.
dish-09 In the next steps, the addition of compounds such as beeswax, vegetable oils, gluten (to maintain adhesive properties) and cellulose improves the physical and mechanical properties of the polymer, and the resulting compound is converted into granules in the extrusion machine. Converting granules to sheets, injection materials and thin films enables researchers to produce all kinds of plastic bags, plastic containers, disposable containers, etc.
There are no restrictions in the use of these plastics, and all types of containers that are made with common plastics can be produced with vegetable polymers, while vegetable containers are more flexible, they can be used in the microwave, unlike polystyrene, which can be used at high temperatures. Higher than 65 degrees is not allowed, they easily tolerate temperatures of 90 to 100 degrees Celsius.
Decomposition of plant containers in the soil takes a maximum of 3 to 6 months, which depends on the temperature, humidity and pressure of the soil, which affect the microorganisms in the soil. In addition to protecting the environment, it is very important to protect human health when using these containers, and since these polymers are of plant and natural origin, no toxic or harmful substances are released from them.
Non-dependence on oil sources and low energy consumption for making plant-based disposable containers are among its other advantages. Plant-based polymers require a temperature of about 130 degrees for production, while in normal polymers this temperature is above 190 degrees, and this 60-degree temperature difference is economical. A lot of money is saved throughout the year.
America produces dishes from corn starch. Italy and England use potato starch.
But in Iran, due to the abundance of corn and wheat starch in the country, we have taken advantage of them. But the technology is such that it can be produced from any kind of starch.
Properties of starch for the production of vegetable dishes
Starch is a weak plant polymer material in terms of physical properties. We have improved these properties. We turned starch, which is a hydrophilic substance, into a hydrophobic substance, basically, it can be said that the art of this work is to make starch hydrophobic.
Then we improved it by adding ingredients such as beeswax, vegetable oil and cellulose fiber. For example, beeswax makes it shiny and soft, and cellulose fiber gives it strength.
The temperature that can be tolerated by these containers is from 20 degrees to 100 degrees. Of course, the difference between disposable vegetable containers and the plastic type is that they can be used in the microwave.
