Extraction and Characterization of Furcraea Fiber for Textile Applications – An exploratory Investigation

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the use of Furcraea plant leaves as a potential source of lignocellulose fibers with an emphasis on textile applications. The plant leaves are retted in water, squeezed and beaten to collect the fibers. According to National Standard 08-1113-1989, the length of the fibers measures in the range of 60 to 100 cm. Bundle strength, color, fineness, root content, defects and bulk density are measured to be 19.0 g tex^-1, 36%, 34.44 tex, 1.52%, 16.75% and 0.37 g cc^-1 respectively. The extracted fiber grade has also been estimated in accordance with commercial natural fiber standard IS 271 (2003). The findings revealed that these fibers are viable substitutes for jute fibers of TD-4 grade to produce packaging bags of food grains.

Index Terms: Furcraea, Composite, Leaf fiber, Extraction, Fiber properties, Textile.