Heloisa Tibolla, Franciele Maria Pelissari, Florencia Cecilia Menegalli,

Cellulose nanofibers produced from banana peel by chemical and enzymatic treatment,
LWT - Food Science and Technology,
Volume 59, Issue 2, Part 2,
2014,
Pages 1311-1318,
ISSN 0023-6438,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2014.04.011.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0023643814002047)
Abstract: Cellulose nanofibers were isolated from banana peel bran using chemical
treatment (CT—alkaline treatment, bleaching, and acid hydrolysis) and enzymatic
treatment (ET—alkaline treatment and hydrolysis with xylanase). Both bran and
cellulose nanofibers were characterized by size distribution, X-ray diffraction
(XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR); the morphological
features of the bran and the nanostructures were studied by scanning (SEM) and
transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. TEM analysis evidenced that
both treatments effectively isolated banana fibers in the nanometer scale.
Nanofibers originating from CT and ET had an average diameter of 10.9 and 7.6 nm
and a length of 454.9 and 2889.7 nm, respectively. The aspect ratio of all the
samples lay in the range of long fibers. In neutral water, the nanofiber
suspensions exhibited high and negative zeta potential, which prevented the
nanofibers from aggregating and yielded a more stable colloidal suspension. XRD
studies revealed that CT afforded more crystalline cellulose nanofibers (58.6%) as
compared with ET (49.2%). FTIR confirmed that the treatments removed most of the
hemicelluloses and lignin present in the banana fibers. Nanoparticles isolated from
the banana peel by both treatments have potential application as reinforcing
elements in composites.
Keywords: Unripe banana peel; Musa paradisiaca; Cellulose nanofibers; Acid
hydrolysis; Enzymatic hydrolysis