Natural rubber (NR) is an important export commodity in Nigeria with versatile applications in many industries.Its latex or luau thank you cards lump forms are regarded asthe farm gate produce which requires value addition and processing to attract desirable economic benefits to smallholder rubber farmers.The field latex is the primary material for ribbed smoked sheet (RSS) production which is one of the raw materials feeding the rubber industry.Ribbed smoked sheetcan beproduced from latex through various processing stages such as tapping, cleaning, dilution, coagulation, sheet formation, and smoke drying.The phsico-chemical properties of the starting grand love red heart reposado tequila field latex and the RSS were investigated in addition to the drying process and drying conditions.
The results obtained showed that processing NR into RSS not only served as a preservative, which improved the storage durability, but also imparted flavor, aroma, and attractive color to the cured sheets.This study sheds more light on the processing, storage conditions, durability, and efficient production of high-value-added RSS developed from natural rubber latex.