Open AccessFiber Morphological Properties of Three Promising Abaca (Musa textilis Nee) Cultivars
Author(s) -
L.O. Moreno
Publication year - 2013
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0119-4909
DOI - 10.47773/shj.1998.101.5
Subject(s) - ultimate tensile strength , materials science , pulp (tooth) , cultivar , composite material , fiber , pulp and paper industry , horticulture , engineering , biology , medicine , pathology
The fiber morphological properties of three promising abaca (Musa textilis Nee) cultivars found in the abaca germplasm collection of the National Abaca Research Center were investigated to assess their suitability for pulp and paper production. It was found that Inosa produced the longest fibers (4.58mm) followed by Laylay (3.43mm), while Gomez hybrid had the shortest (2.45mm). The three cultivars did not vary in fiber cell diameter, lumen width and cell wall thickness. Tensile strength of Inosa was highest at 84.68 cN/tex compared to Laylay (69.27 cN/tex) while Gomez hybrid had the lowest at 25.65 cN/tex). The very high tensile strength of Inosa as well as its high slenderness and runkel ratios make it very suitable for the production of high quality pulp and paper. Slenderness and runkel ratios of the Gomez hybrid were the lowest while its flexibility ratio was the highest indicating poop fiber quality. Such properties, however, still make its fibers acceptable for low-grade pulp and paper products such as newsprint paper production.