See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/254369802

Banana Pseudostem Characterization and Its Fiber Property

Evaluation on Physical and Bioextraction

Article  in  Journal of Natural Fibers · July 2011

DOI: 10.1080/15440478.2011.601614

CITATIONS READS

35 15,716

3 authors, including:

Manilal Balakrishnan Vattackatt

National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology
25 PUBLICATIONS   973 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Manilal Balakrishnan Vattackatt on 13 February 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

WJNF #601614, VOL 8, ISS 3

Banana Pseudostem Characterization and Its

Fiber Property Evaluation on Physical and
Bioextraction

V. B. MANILAL and J. SONY

QUERY SHEET
This page lists questions we have about your paper. The numbers displayed at left
can be found in the text of the paper for reference. In addition, please review your
paper as a whole for correctness.

Q1: Au: Please check the suggested right running head.

Q2: Au: Please check whether the affiliation and correspondence address are
OK as set.
Q3: Au: The reference Khalil (2000) has been changed to Abdul Khalil et al.
(2006) as per the details given in the reference list. Please check if it is OK.
Q4: Au: The reference Manilal and Ajit is dated 2009 in the list. Kindly check
if the change made is OK.
Q5: Au: The reference citation Susan and Bailey (2005) has been changed to
Susan and Bailey (2005a, 2005b) after comparison with the entries in the
reference list. Please delete a or b whichever is not applicable.
Q6: Au: Please check whether it is necessary to define the term “EDTA” or
should we assume it be well known in which case no definition is needed.
Q7: Au: The reference citation Susan and Bailey (2005) has been changed to
Susan and Bailey (2005a, 2005b) after comparison with the entries in the
reference list. Please delete a or b whichever is not applicable.
Q8: Au: The reference citation Mukhopadhyay (2009) has been changed to
Mukhopadhyay et al. (2008) in accordance with the reference list. Please
check.
Q9: Au: The citation “Figures 3, 5, and 7” has been changed to “Figures 3–5”
after matching the figures with the description given in the captions. Also,
please note the paper has a total of five figures only.
Q10: Au: Please check whether the edited references Manilal et al. (2009) and
Mustafa and Vaganan (2009) are OK as set.
Q11: Au: Please check the page range in the reference Susan and Bailey (2005a,
2005b).
Q12: Au: Please provide location (city, country) of the conference in the
reference Unkalkar et al. (1991).

TABLE OF CONTENTS LISTING

The table of contents for the journal will list your paper exactly as it appears below:

Banana Pseudostem Characterization and Its Fiber Property Evaluation on

Physical and Bioextraction
V. B. Manilal and J. Sony
Journal of Natural Fibers, 8:1–12, 2011
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1544-0478 print/1544-046X online
DOI: 10.1080/15440478.2011.601614

Banana Pseudostem Characterization and Its

Fiber Property Evaluation on Physical and
Bioextraction

V. B. MANILAL and J. SONY

Environmental Technology Section, National Institute for Interdisciplinary
Science and Technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), 5
Thiruvananthapuram, India

This paper presents composition of different layers of banana

pseudostem sheath and detailed characteristics of fibers from phys-
ical and bioextraction. Cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, pectin, 10
and ash were determined by chemical analysis of pseudostem
sheaths. Lignocellulose constitutes about 60%–85% dry weight of
the banana pseudostem sheath, in which cellulose accounts for
about 50%. Except for the minor changes in hemicellulose, lignin,
and ash contents, the physical and bioextraction of fibers are 15
comparable with their chemical and physical properties. Lengthy
bioextraction may affect the fiber qualities. Scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) studies showed clean and smooth surface of
bioextracted fibers unlike in physically extracted ones.

KEYWORDS bioextraction, banana pseudostem, leaf sheath, 20

lignocelluloses, fiber property

INTRODUCTION

Apart from water, the pseudostem of banana, a herbaceous plant of the

genus Musa, contains several polymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose,
pectin, and lignin that constitute fibers with good mechanical properties. It 25

Address correspondence to V. B. Manilal, PhD, Scientist, Environmental Technology

Section, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Council of Scientific
and Industrial Research (CSIR), Thiruvananthapuram 695019, India. E-mail: manilalvb@ Q2
gmail.com

1
2 V. B. Manilal and J. Sony

has lesser amount of extractives, protein, starch, and inorganics. The bast
fiber of banana has been widely recognized for its good qualities over syn-
thetic fibers and is used for making apparels, garments, and home furnishing
(Uma et al. 2005). It is quite possible that these chemical compositions
may vary with age, variety, climatic conditions, geographical location, etc. 30
Understanding the chemical composition and physical properties of the
fibers is very important to utilize them properly in composites, textiles,
and pulp and paper manufacturing applications Abdul Khalil et al. 2006;
Li et al. 2010). Q3
Banana fibers are usually extracted from the pseudostem by physi- 35
cal and chemical methods. In the mechanical extraction, detachment of
vegetable matter from the fibers is incomplete (Kulkarni et al. 1983).
Strong alkali treatment is applied at different concentrations for chemi-
cal extraction and such methods need intense washing, and have several
drawbacks (Pothan et al. 2006). Conventional retting is the rarely used 40
alternate method of fiber extraction from pseudostem. This is a long-term
process which affects the fiber quality significantly (Ganan et al. 2004).
Every method followed currently for fiber extraction has serious limita-
tions either due to the deterioration of mechanical property or incomplete
removal of vegetable matter. A clean bioextraction process has recently 45
been developed and is found to be better than the above stated methods
of fiber production from plant (Manilal and Ajit 2009). This environmental Q4
friendly bioextraction process is useful for the production of various plant
fibers including banana, which results in the production of clean fibers,
enables process water recycling, and concomitant conversion of wastes to 50
methane.
Mainly lignocellulosic constituents contribute to the overall prop-
erty of plant fibers (Saira et al. 2007). The chemical composition
of different morphological parts of “Dwarf Cavendish,” a variety of
Musa, has been investigated for its potential use as a nonwood nat- 55
ural product (Olivera et al. 2007). Kulkarni et al. (1983) have made
an attempt to study the mechanical properties of manually extracted
banana fibers of Musa sepentium. The fiber characteristics and chemi-
cal property of Nigerian Musa species have been evaluated by Omotoso
and Ogunsile (2009) for exploring its suitability in the pulp and paper 60
industry. It is observed that the characteristics of fiber from banana
pseudostem vary with the position of leaf sheath and method of extrac-
tion. However, the information on these aspects is incomplete as the
properties of fibers may also vary with species and their ecological
conditions. The present work aims to characterize different layers of 65
banana pseudostem, and to evaluate the bioextracted banana fiber with
respect to chemical and physical properties in comparison with physically
extracted fiber.
 Banana Pseudostem Characterization 3 Q1

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sample Collection and Preparation 70
Based on some known qualities, better strength, and availability during
all seasons, Nendran (AAB), a variety of Musa, is selected for the clean
extraction (bioextraction) studies. This process involves placing of banana
pseudostem sheaths in a tank containing anoxic water, which is circu-
lated through an anaerobic reactor. After 6 and 12 days of treatment, the 75
fibers were collected from the tank and then washed and dried. Physically
extracted fibers were obtained locally.

Chemical Composition Analysis

Moisture, total solids, ash, and lignin of the banana pseudostem fiber were
measured as per American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) stan- 80
dard methods (Susan et al. 2005a, 2005b). Cellulose was estimated using Q5
the acetic acid–nitric acid reagent (Updegraff 1969). The hemicellulosic con-
tent of pseudostem was estimated as per Detroy et al. (1982). Pectin was
extracted from banana pseudostem by an EDTA extraction procedure (Arslan Q6
1995). Average results of the duplicates/triplicates for each parameter are 85
shown on dry weight basis.

Fiber Characterization
Based on thickness, physically and bioextracted fiber samples were char-
acterized for their mechanical strength and physical properties. Scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the surface properties of fibers. 90

Determination of Diameter
The diameter of physical and bioextracted fibers was measured with a
micrometer. The average of the diameters measured at different points was
considered as the fiber diameter. Samples of 20 fibers were analyzed for
each group. 95

MECHANICAL TESTING

Mechanical properties of the banana fibers were measured as per ASTM

standards (Susan et al. 2005a, 2005b) using the Hounsfield Testing Machine Q7
H5KS-1499, with a crosshead speed of 50 mm/min at the gauge length
of 50 mm. Samples were grouped based on diameter and the strain was 100
determined from the crosshead movement. The fiber specimens were tested
4 V. B. Manilal and J. Sony

for tensile strength (MPa), elongation at maximum (%), and maximum force
(N). A minimum of 10 specimens of each group was tested and their average
is reported in this study.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY 105

Samples were prepared for the SEM by coating gold using the sputter-
ing technique by JEOL-JFC 1200 Fine Coater. SEM of the fiber samples
was imaged using a JEOL-JSM 56700 LV scanning electron microscope
with the following specifications—accelerating voltage: 10 KV; image mode:
secondary electron image; working distance: 15 mm. 110

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The banana pseudostem consisted of leaf sheaths, which are arranged in

overlapping layers. It was observed that the number of pseudostem sheaths
varies within the same variety of banana species. Minimum of 13 layers
of sheath are normally found in the pseudostem of all Nendran varieties. 115
However, more than 13 number of leaf sheaths are also found in pseu-
dostems, depending on the growth conditions of the banana plant. Exterior
11 leaf sheaths in the pseudostem can be used for extracting fibers and
the sheaths in the interior fibers have poor strength. The peeling of these
interior sheaths in full length is difficult because of their poor strength and 120
brittle nature.

Chemical Analysis of Pseudostem

The chemical composition of 16 leaf sheaths in their respective order of
arrangements from outer to inner is given in Table 1. Dry matter is very little
in all the sheaths of banana as water contributes to 96% and more. There is a 125
marked difference in certain constituents of the leaf sheath within a banana
pseudostem. Increase in the lignin content of fibers toward the outer sheath
is one of the most prominent observations. It is presumed that the high
content of lignin could be due to the presence of mature cells in the outer
region (Morrisons et al. 1998). While the pectin content is found to decrease 130
toward the external sheaths, some variations are there in the cellulosic and
hemicellulosic contents in different sheath layers; however, they are not
found to follow prominent trends. The cellulose accounts for about 50%,
which is the highest constituent in the dried sheath. In an earlier study,
more than 60% cellulosic content had been reported in Nendran (Mustafa 135
and Mayil Vaganan 2009). The composition of lignocellulose determines the
nature and quality of fibers as these compounds are the major constituents
 Banana Pseudostem Characterization 5

TABLE 1 Composition of Bunch-Harvested Banana (Nendran AAB) Pseudostem Leaf

Total
Pseudostem Hemi lingo
sheath Moisture Total Cellulose cellulose Lignin cellulose Ash Pectin
to inward (%) (%) (%) a (%) b (%) c (a + b + c) (%) d (%) e

1 96.2 3.8 49.0 9.2 22.6 81.3 10.6 2.4

2 96.0 4.0 54.5 6.7 20.5 81.7 8.5 2.8
3 96.4 3.6 52.8 11.7 20.5 85.0 7.4 3.6
4 96.2 3.8 51.0 11.4 16.4 79.8 7.1 3.8
5 96.4 3.6 46.6 11.5 15.8 74.0 7.0 3.7
6 96.7 3.3 43.9 12.2 18.9 75.0 6.83 4.0
7 96.7 3.3 42.1 12.2 17.6 71.9 7.14 4.0
8 96.8 3.2 51.1 16.3 13.6 81.0 7.3 4.5
9 97.3 2.7 38.6 19.7 11.2 69.5 8.2 4.8
10 97.3 2.9 40.5 19.2 12.7 72.4 7.9 4.3
11 97.4 2.6 50.0 16.6 12.3 78.4 8.7 4.5
12 97.7 2.3 50.3 8.2 11.5 70.0 11.3 4.0
13 97.9 2.1 31.0 8.0 11.8 50.8 11.4 4.6
14 96.2 3.8 49.2 10.3 11.2 70.7 14.9 4
15 96.2 3.8 44 10.3 9 63.3 21.5 4
Note: Results are averages of duplicates or triplicates, a–e are contents of the total solids.

of plant fibers that provide structural strength to the plant (Justicz-Smith

et al. 2008).
The lignocellulosic content of the banana sheath is in the range of 140
60%–85% of its dry weight, and such a composition of the banana fiber is
found useful for their applications in textile, pulp and paper, and composites
(Ververis et al. 2004). Higher ash content is observed in the inner sheaths of
the banana pseudostem (Table 1). Inner sheath layers have the function of
nutritional transport (Oliveira et al. 2007), which might have contributed to 145
their higher ash content.

Fibers in Pseudostem Leaf Sheaths

The banana fibers are thick-walled cells that are bonded together by hemi-
cellulose, pectin, and lignin. These fibers are located in the outer periphery
of each sheath. The nonfibrous vegetable inner part of the banana sheath is 150
made up of large air canals separated by narrow parenchyma, and is easily
detached from the outer fibrous region on mild physical stress. This non-
fibrous vegetable part is termed “pith” which is free of fiber bundles (Li
et al. 2010). The composition of pseudostem sheath with and without pith is
given in Table 2. The presence of nonfibrous vegetable matter on the fiber is 155
a serious problem in many of its applications including paper and pulp mak-
ing, and which needs to be removed for better use (Unkalkar et al. 1991).
However, removal of pith from banana sheath is not found to change the
content of fibers significantly, as it mainly consists of parenchyma cells and
6 V. B. Manilal and J. Sony

TABLE 2 Composition of Banana (Nendran AAB) Pseudostem Sheath as

Such and Pith Removed by Mild Crushing

Whole Pith-removed
pseudostem pseudostem
Sr. No. Parameter (∗ ) sheaths sheaths

1 Moisture (%) 96.7 94.5

2 Cellulose (%) 46.3 41.7
3 Hemicellulose (%) 12.5 10.2
4 Lignin (%) 15.8 9.4
5 Ash (%) 10.7 2.8
6 Pectin (%) 3.9 3
∗
The values of 2–6 are based on dry weight of pseudostem.

other conducting tissues. This is evident from the analytical results of fibrous 160
constituents of cellulose and hemicellulose in the sheath with the presence
and absence of pith. The ash content is much reduced by the removal of
pith from the sheath (Table 2).

Thickness of Fibers in Sheaths

The fibers of banana pseudostem can be grouped into five, having thick- 165
ness of 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, and 0.25 mm and higher. Typical distribution
pattern of fibers of different thicknesses in Nendran pseudostem sheaths are
given in Figure 1 in which the sheath layers of pseudostem are grouped
into outer (exterior 1–4 sheaths), middle (5–9 sheaths), and inner (from 10
and beyond). Sheaths in the inner region have maximum fibers of thickness 170
from 0.05 to 0.15 mm and less 0.2 mm fibers. Fibers of 0.25 mm thickness
or higher are negligible or absent in this region while outer sheaths have

50
Frequency of fibre diameter (mm)

45
40
35
30
25 outer
20
middle
15
10 inner
5
0
0,05 0,1 0,15 0,2 0,25
Diameter (mm)

FIGURE 1 Distribution of fibers of different thicknesses in pseudostem sheaths: Outer—

1–4 sheaths; middle—5–9 sheaths; and inner—10–13 sheaths.
 Banana Pseudostem Characterization 7

thicker fibers (0.2 mm and beyond). The middle sheaths contain fibers of
all thicknesses but majority are of 0.15 mm and 0.2 mm. Understanding
of this distribution pattern of fibers of different sizes in the sheaths is 175
useful to do selective processing of sheaths for need-based fiber extrac-
tion. For example, processing of outer sheaths results in the production of
thicker fibers which would be suitable for paper industries (Omotoso and
Ogunsile 2009).

Compositional Difference in the Fiber with Extraction Method 180

Banana fibers are extracted mainly by physical methods. Chemical and
retting methods are seldom practiced because of their limitations. As the
quality of fibers depends significantly on the method of extraction, choos-
ing the correct one, which would not affect the quality and quantity of
fiber, has great importance. A recently developed bioextraction method 185
has been found useful for fiber separation from several plant materials
including banana pseudostem (Manilal and Ajit 2009). Analytical results
of bioextracted and physically extracted pseudostem fibers are presented
in Table 3. The bioextracted and physically extracted fibers have almost
similar composition except slight variations in the hemicellulose, lignin, 190
and ash contents which are slightly lower in the bioextracted fiber. The
appearance of bioextracted fibers was cleaner than the fibers of physical
extraction.

Mechanical Properties of Fibers

The results are almost identical for both 6 days bioprocessed and physically 195
extracted fibers when measuring the mechanical properties such as tensile
strength (MPa), max force (N), and elongation at maximum (%) (Table 4).
However, longer duration of bioextraction affects the quality of banana fiber
significantly as was observed in 12 days of bioprocessing. This may be a

TABLE 3 Composition of Bioextracted and Physically

Extracted Banana Pseudostem Fibers

Physically
Bioextracted extracted
Contents (%) fiber fiber

Moisture 9.1 9.7

Cellulose 59.3 60.6
Hemicellulose 10.2 12.4
Lignin 17.5 18.9
Ash 1.0 2.9
8 V. B. Manilal and J. Sony

TABLE 4 Results of Mechanical Property Analysis of Banana Fibers

Diameter of Method of Tensile Maximum Elongation

fiber (mm) of extraction strength (MPa) force (N) at maximum (%)

0.05 1 631.74 1.24 1.24

2 632.33 1.25 2.20
3 611.20 1.18 1.42
0.1 1 343.05 2.69 2.04
2 345.33 2.71 2.18
3 323.60 2.54 1.47
0.15 1 337.32 5.96 2.12
2 338.17 5.98 1.97
3 128.20 2.26 1.44
0.2 1 244.03 7.67 2.21
2 244.67 7.68 2.28
3 196.70 6.18 2.03
0.25 1 182.33 8.9 2.1
2 177.56 8.71 2.06
3 163.20 7.9 2.11
1: Physically extracted fiber, 2: 6 days’ bioextracted fiber, 3: 12 days’ bioextracted fiber.

result of fiber-degrading enzyme actions with the long-term treatment in the 200
anaerobic process.
The analysis confirmed that proper bioextraction can help retain good
mechanical properties similar to that of a physically extracted one.
Significant reduction of the tensile strength is observed with the increase
of diameter of the banana fiber, irrespective of their extraction method. 205
Elongation maximum for all the four sizes of fibers remains more or less the
same. A similar trend of increasing mechanical properties of fibers, including
banana with decreasing diameter, has been reported previously (Munawar
et al. 2006). Lower diameter has better tenacity due to less flaw and per-
fect structure (Mukhopadhyay et al. 2008). Similarly, reduction of tensile 210 Q8
strength has been reported with the increase of natural open retting period
for banana fiber extraction (Ganan et al. 2004).

SEM Analysis of Fibers

The surface characteristics of physically and bioextracted banana fibers are
shown in Figure 2; 8 SEMs at different magnifications. Usually, the bioex- 215
tracted fibers have clean surface compared to physically extracted ones. The
surface of physically extracted fibers is rough and has adhesion of some veg-
etative matters (Figures 3, 4, and 5). According to Reddy and Yang (2005), Q9
physical extraction leaves an irregular surface with the presence of encrust-
ing substances like hemicellulose, lignin, and pectin. It has been reported 220
that the mechanical extraction of fibers usually results in deterioration of
quality (Moore 1973).
 Banana Pseudostem Characterization 9

(a) 0.05mm Fibre extracted physically (b) 0.05mm fibre bioextracted

15 kv ×1, 500 10 µm 1414 NI ISTSEM 15 kv ×1, 500 10 µm 1428 NI ISTSEM

FIGURE 2 Scanning electron micrographs of physically and bioextracted 6 days’ banana fiber
sample. (a) and (b) denote the magnification of 1500×.

(a) 0.1mm fibre extracted physically (b) 0.1mm fibre bio extracted

15 kv ×1, 500 10 µm 1418 NI ISTSEM 15 kv ×1, 500 10 µm 1435 NI ISTSEM

FIGURE 3 Scanning electron micrographs of physically and bioextracted 6 days’ banana

fibers. (a) and (b) denote the magnification of 1500×.

(a) 0.15mm fibre extracted physically (b) 0.15mm bioextracted fibre

15 kv ×1, 500 10 µm 1422 NI ISTSEM 15 kv ×1, 500 10 µm 1400 NI ISTSEM

FIGURE 4 Scanning electron micrographs of physically and bioextracted 6 days’ banana

fibers. (a) and (b) denote the magnification of 1500×.

CONCLUSION

The main residual wastes of the banana crop are leaves and pseudostem;
each has a high amount of lignocellulose. As the lignocellulosic composi- 225
tion varies within the same plant varieties and species, and according to the
10 V. B. Manilal and J. Sony

(a) 0.2mm fibres extracted physically (b) 0.2mm fibres bioextracted fibre

15 kv ×1, 500 10 µm 1425 NI ISTSEM 15 kv ×1, 500 10 µm 1425 NI ISTSEM

FIGURE 5 Scanning electron micrographs of physically and bioextracted 6 days’ banana

fibers. (a) and (b) denote the magnification of 1500×.

agroclimatic conditions, the characterization of banana pseudostem sheath

reflects a marked difference in their chemical constituents. The total lignocel-
lulosic content of leaf sheaths is in the range of 60%–85% of their dry weight.
The analysis of banana pseudostem sheath with and without pith shows no 230
marked difference in lignocellulosic composition. The fibers are located in
the outer region of the leaf sheath, which are of thickness 0.05, 0.1, 0.15,
0.2, and 0.25 mm. Fibers of lesser diameter, particularly 0.05–0.15 mm, are
present in the inner sheaths of pseudostem, and fibers of higher diameter are
in the outer sheaths. The major challenges of fiber extraction from banana 235
pseudostem may be overcome with the use of clean bioextraction process,
which results in the production of quality fibers without losing mechanical
properties.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the Director, National Institute for Interdisciplinary 240
Science and Technology (formerly Regional Research Laboratory,
Thiruvananthapuram), for providing the necessary facilities to carry out the
work.

REFERENCES

Abdul Khalil, H. P. S., M. S. Alwani, and A. K. M. Omar. 2006. Chemical composition, 245
anatomy, lignin distribution, and cell wall structure of Malaysian plant waste
fibers. Cell walls of tropical fibers. Bioresources 1(2): 220–232.
Arslan, N. 1995. Extraction of pectin from sugar beetpulp and intrinsic viscosity
molcular weight relationship of pectin solution. Journal of Food Science and
Technology 32(5): 381–385. 250
 Banana Pseudostem Characterization 11

Detroy, R. W., R. L. Cunningharm, R. J. Bothast, M. O. Bagby, and A. Herman. 1982.

Bioconversion of wheat straw cellulose and hemicullose to ethanol by saccha-
romyces uvarum and Pachysolen tannophilus. Biotechnology Bioengineering
24: 1105–1113.
Ganan, P., R. Zuluaga, J. M. Velez, and I. Mondragon. 2004. Biological natural retting 255
for determining the hierarchical structuration of banana fibres. Macromolecular
Bioscience 4: 978–983.
Justicz-Smith, N. G., G. Juniur Virgo, and V. E. Buchanan. 2008. Potential of Jamaican
banana, coconut, coir and bagasse fibres as composites materials. Material
Characterization 59(9): 1273–1278. 260
Kulkarni, A. G., K. G. Satyanarayana, and P. K. Rohatgi. 1983. Mechanical properties
of banana fibres (Musa sepientium). Journal of Material Science 18: 2290–2296.
Li, K., S. Fu, H. Zhan, Y. Zhan, and L. A. Lucia. 2010. Banana pseudostem chemistry,
structure. Bioresources 5(2): 576–585.
Manilal, V. B., and H. Ajit. 2009. In Clean bioextraction process for producing quality 265
plant fibres. Proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Trends in
Production, Processing and Utilization of Natural Fibres, April 16–18, Mumbai,
India, pp. 266–271. Q10
Moore. 1973. The major groups of palms and their distribution. Genetes Herb 11(2):
27–141. 270
Morrisons, T. A., A. G. Jung, D. R. Buxton, and R. D. Hatfield. 1998. Cell wall
composition of maize internodes of varying maturity. Crop Science 38: 455–460.
Mukhopadhyay, S., R. Fangueiro, Y. Arpac, and U. Senturk. 2008. Banana fibre—
variability and fracture behaviour. Journal of Engineered Fibres and Fabrics
3(2): 39–45. 275
Munawar, S. S., K. Umemara, and S. Kawai. 2006. Characterization of the mor-
phological, physical, and mechanical properties of seven nonwood plant fiber
bundles. Journal of Wood Science 53: 108–113.
Mustafa, M. M., and M. Mayil Vaganan. 2009. In Production, processing and utiliza-
tion of Banana fibres. Proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging 280
Trends in Production, Processing and Utilization of Natural Fibres, April 16–18,
Mumbai, India, pp. 544–550.
Oliveira, L., N. Cordeiro, D. V. Evtuguin, I. C. Torres, and A. J. D. Silvestre.
2007. Chemical composition of different morphological parts from “Dwarfs
Cavendish” banana plant and their potential as a nonwood renewable sources 285
of natural products. Industrial Crops and Products 26: 163–172.
Omotoso, M. A., and B. O. Ougunsile. 2009. Fibre and chemical properties of some
Nigerian grown Muse species for pulp production. Asian Journal of Material
Science 1: 14–21.
Pothan, L. A., F. Simon, S. Spange, and S. Thomas. 2006. XPS studies of chemically 290
modified banana fibres. Biomacromolecules 7: 892–898.
Reddy, N., and Y.Yang. 2005. Biofibres from agricultural byproducts for industrial
application. Trends in Biotechnology 23(1): 22–27.
Saira, T., M. A. Munawar, and S. Khan. 2007. Natural fiber reinforced polymer
composites. Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences 44(2): 129–144. 295
Susan, A. A., and S. J. Bailey. 2005a. Annual Book of ASTM Standards, section 7.
Textiles 1: D76–D4391. Q11
 12 V. B. Manilal and J. Sony

Susan, A. A., and S. J. Bailey. 2005b. Annual Book of ASTM Standards, section 4.
Wood 4.10: D1102–D4492.
Uma, S., S. Kalpana, S. Sathiamoorthy, and V. Kumar. 2005. Evaluation of commercial 300
cultivars of banana (Musa Spp.) for their suitability for the fibre industry. Plant
Genetic Resources News Letter 142: 29–35.
Unkalkar, V. G., N. M. Pai, G. D. Maheswari, R. R. Shobag, and J. S. Sanwal. 1991. In
Rind: An improved sugarcane fibre for pulping and paper making. Proceedings
of the Pulping Conference, Oct, 27–31, 1996. Q12
305
Updegraff, D. 1969. Semimicro determination of cellulose in biological materials.
Analytical Biochemistry 32: 420–424.
Ververis, C., K. Georghiou, N. Christodoulakis, P. Santas, and R. Santas. 2004. Fiber
dimensions, lignin and cellulose content of various plant materials and their
suitability for paper production. Industrial Crops and Products 19: 245–254. 310

View publication stats