Tendu leaf

Tendu leaf is a the leaf of a tree of the same name. Tendu trees are found in Indian forest areas. It is an Asian ebony tree.

Tendu leaves are gathered for making 'bidi', a product for smoking. Tobacco is wrapped into its leaves, just like it is wrapped into paper.

The leaves are obtained from Tendu tree (Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb.) belonging to Family Ebenaceae, which is endemic to Indian sub-continent. According to Troup (1921) Diospyros melanoxylon (inclusive of D. tomentosa and D. tupru) is one of the most characteristic trees of the dry deciduous forests throughout India, covering the entire Indian peninsula the area of distribution extends upto Nepal in sub-Himalayan tracts including the Indian plain, Gangetic plain, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, western coast upto Malabar and Eastern coast upto Coromandel. The plant is also met with on the Nilgiris and Serawalli hills in the south.

Diospyros melanoxylon leaf is considered the most suitable wrapper on account of the ease with which it can be rolled and its wide availability. Leaves of many other plants like Butea monosperma, Shorea robusta etc. also find use as Bidi wrappers in different parts of the country but the texture, flavour and workability of diospyros leaves are unmatchable. The wide-scale use of Diospyros melanoxylon leaves in Bidi industry is mainly based on their enormous production, agreeable flavour, flexibility, resistance to decay and capacity to retain fires. The broad morphological characters on which leaves, are selected and catagorised for Bidi making are size, thickness of leaves, texture, relative thickness of midrib and lateral veins.

The procedure for collection and processing of tendu leaves has almost been standardised and almost the same procedure is used everywhere. The tendu plants are pruned in the months of February and March and the mature leaves are collected after about 45 days. The leaves are collected in bundles of 50 to 100 leaves, which are dried in sunlight for about a week. The dried leaves are sprinkled with water to soften them and then filled tightly in jute bags and exposed to direct sunlight for 2 days. The bags, thus packed and cured can be stored till their use in Bidi manufacture. Great care is needed while plucking, curing and storage of tendu leaves. It is a sensitive product and with the slightest mistakes or oversight during any of these processes their quality deteriorates rendering them unfit for making Bidis.

Nearby pages
Tenebrae, Tenedos, Tenerife, Tenterden, Teocalli, Teplitz, Terabyte