User talk:Awaisdecent1995

Banana Fiber Introduction The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant. All the above-ground parts of a banana plant grow from a structure usually called a "corm". Plants are normally tall and fairly sturdy, and are often mistaken for trees. This fiber is already used successfully in Philippines since decades and hence it is also known popularly as “Manila Hemp”. The other name of this fiber is “Abaca”, Bananas are grown in tropical regions where the average temperature is 80° F (27° C) and the yearly rainfall is between 78 and 98 inches. They require moist soil with good drainage.

History The banana plant has long been a source of fiber for high quality textiles. In Japan, banana cultivation for clothing and household use dates back to at least the 13th century. In South Indian state of Tamil Nadu after harvesting for fruit the trunk (outer layer of the shoot) is made into fine thread used in making of flower garlands instead of thread. It interesting that banana fiber is being called a “new fiber”, when it has actually been used for textile purposes for hundreds of years Musa Basjoo -fiber banana                                      Banana fiber Banana fiber producing countries Musa basjoo has been extensively cultivated for fiber or gardens outside its natural range, into Japan and parts of Northern Europe and Britain, the United States, and Canada..It is also cultivated in India for the production of fiber

HARVESTING OF BANANA Bananas do not grow from a seed but from a bulb or rhizome. The time between planting a banana plant and the harvest of the banana bunch is from 9 to 12 months. The flower appears in the sixth or seventh month. Bananas are available throughout the year. These fibers are obtained after the fruit is harvested and fall in the group of bast fibers. This plant has long been a good source for high quality textiles in many parts of the world, especially in Japan and Nepal.

Extraction of fiber The outermost layers of the stalk contain the coarsest fibers, while the inner layers contain fine fibers that can be spun into luxurious fabrics such as silks. After a banana harvest, the cut stalks are stripped of their fibers by a decortication method, whereby the stalks are crushed by a roller and then the fibers are scraped by machines that have sharp, revolving wheels on them. Stripping can also be done by hand, which involves removing narrow strips of the stalk with a serrated knife. A banana fiber separator machine has been developed in India, which takes the agricultural waste of local banana harvests and efficiently and quickly extracts strands of the fibe Fiber extraction is followed by boiling the strips in an alkaline solution to soften and separate them. After boiling and washing the strips, the skins and fibers are separated from one another, after which the fibers are joined through a tedious and time consuming method to create long, continuous threads. The threads are then ready for spinning, during which they must be kept wet in order to prevent snapping or breaking. Dyeing and weaving the yarns are the final parts of the process, producing a high quality material that can be used for various applications

Structure of banana fiber

1.Banana pseudo-stem has a high holocellulose content and low lignin content, thus making it an ideal material for application in pulping and papermaking. Themonomeric content of holocellulose of banana pseudo-stem consists mainly ofglucose (71.76%), followed by xylose11.20%; arabinose, 7.34%; galactose, 2.02%;mannose, 0.58%; and galacturonic acid,7.09%. 2.Banana pseudo-stem has unique morphological features. Fiber bundles in bananapseudo-stem are covered by a non-cellulosemembrane, and are constructed by twokinds of fibers: elementary fibers with diameters of 10~15μm and narrow fibers withdiameters of 3~4μm. 3.There is no elementary fiber in banana pith. The narrow fibers resemble pipes ratherthan fiber bundles. This structure, which has never been reported before, is considered to facilitate the transportation of water in the pith Properties of banana fiber Fiber	Cellulose	Hemi cellulose	Pectin	Lignin	Water soluble materials	Fat & wax	Ash Banana	50-60 %	25-30	3-5	12-18	2-3	3-5	1-1.5

Banana fiber is a natural bast fiber. It has its own physical and chemical characteristics and many other properties that make it a fine quality fiber. •	Appearance of banana fiber is similar to that of bamboo fiber and ramie fiber, but its fineness and spinnability is better than the two. •	The chemical composition of banana fiber is cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. •	It is highly strong fiber. •	It has smaller elongation. •	It has somewhat shiny appearance depending upon the extraction & spinning process. •	It is light weight. •	It has strong moisture absorption quality. It absorbs as well as releases moisture very fast. •	It is bio- degradable and has no negative effect on environment and thus can be categorized as eco-friendly fiber. •	Its average fineness is 2400Nm. •	It can be spun through almost all the methods of spinning including ring spinning, open-end spinning, bast fiber spinning, and semi-worsted spinning among others. •	Moisture regain of banana fiber is 13 % •	Tenacity is 29.98 g/denier and fineness is 17,15 denier •	Its elongation is 6.54

Uses of Banana Fiber

Banana fiber is used for the following purposes: •	To make currencies, bond papers, and speciality papers which can last for 100 years •	As a very good replacement for wood pulp in paper industry, as it has high cellulose content,thus reducing the Environmental impact of deforestation •	In making composite materials as a replacement for fiber glass •	For manufacturing mattresses, pillows and cushions in the furniture industry. •	In handicraft, extensively for making bags, purse, mobile phone cover, door mats, curtains, and yoga mats etc.

•	In the manufacture of textiles •	Research is underway to find out other uses of this fiber