Mangaluru: Indian areca leaf plates manufacturer Agrileaf has presented findings from an independent study that it said could help address regulatory concerns raised by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the export of such products.The FDA, on May 8, 2025, placed foodware made from the leaf sheath of the Areca catechu palm under Import Alert 23-15. The agency had reported that naturally occurring alkaloids, arecoline, arecaidine, guvacoline and guvacine, could migrate from the products into food simulants under intended-use conditions.The category-wide action created uncertainty for the areca leaf plate industry, which Agrileaf estimates comprises 5,000 to 7,000 small and marginal manufacturing units producing biodegradable plates and related products.Agrileaf founder and CEO Avinash Rao told reporters on Saturday, that in response, Agrileaf undertook a scientific review over approximately 16 months, seeking to replicate the extraction and migration analysis described in the FDA-referenced Mangrum study. The study involved specialised sample preparation, sensitive detection of the four alkaloids and testing under defined conditions. Agrileaf’s study detected less than 1 ppb of the identified alkaloids, compared with 15 ppb reported in the US FDA-referenced study, he said.The research was carried out in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, MAHE Life Sciences, Manipal, and Glimetomics, Bengaluru. It was conducted under the scientific guidance of Dr Gopal Marathe, retired professor and former head of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Mysore, who serves as a scientific consultant to Agrileaf.He said, “The company’s samples recorded substantially lower levels of the four alkaloids than those reported in the FDA-referenced study. Our research found that the alkaloids flagged by the US FDA were present in almost negligible amounts in the plates that we manufacture,” Rao said.He said Agrileaf’s products continued to have demand in markets including China, Europe and the UK, despite the US restrictions.However, the company clarified that the findings were specific to the samples tested and should not be interpreted as proof that the alkaloids are absent from all areca leaf plates. The results also do not, by themselves, overturn the FDA’s determination or constitute regulatory approval for sale in the US.Dr Harsha Patil, research engineer at Agrileaf, and Dr Gopal Marathe were present.
