Variation of chemical and morphological properties of different parts of banana plant (Musa paradisica) and their effects on pulping

Abstract

Chemical and morphological characterization of different parts of banana plant<br />(Musa paradisica) (peduncle, leaf stalk and pseudo stem) were carried out in order<br />to assess their potentiality for chemical pulp. Each portion was tested for<br />extractives, sodium hydroxide solubility, ash, lignin, cellulose and pentosan<br />contents as well as their fiber length and width. These segmented parts were<br />characterized as low amount of lignin (12.8–16.1%) and moderate amount of α-<br />cellulose (31.6–43.3%) and relatively high amount of ash (7.6–19.1%), alkali<br />solubility (32.4-51.4%) and water solubility. The morphological properties of the<br />banana plant, in terms of fiber length and width were found to be a medium fiber<br />with high slenderness ratio. Kraft process was applied for the three portions of<br />banana plant to evaluate pulp properties. At the optimal pulping (Active alkali<br />22% for peduncle, 16% for leaf stalk and pseudo stem at 150 oC for 1 hour) pulp<br />yields about 30.5–40.5% on oven dried (OD) raw material with kappa number from<br />16.9 to 26.1 were obtained when cooking was carried out for 1 hour. Mechanical<br />properties of the unbleached pulp showed a high tensile, tear and burst index for<br />pseudo stem.