Leaf fiber

Leaf fibers or hard fibers are a type of plant fiber mainly used for
cordage (producing rope). They are the toughest of the plant fibers
which is most likely due to their increased lignin content when
compared to the other groups of plant fibers.[1] They are typically
characterized as being very tough and rigid lending them towards
being used in rope production over clothing or paper like other plant
fibers.[2]

Leaf fibers can be found in the vascular bundles of plant leaves and
therefore consist of both phloem and xylem tissues and any other
Picture of Abaca that has been
vascular sheathing tissues (for example sclerenchyma cells). More
stripped down to just the fibrous
specifically, leaf fibers are typically found in monocotyledonous material
leaves.[1]

The fibers are harvested from plants in long, thin bundles mainly
through the process of decortication which is where the non-fibrous tissues are scraped away from the plant
fibers by hand or in a machine. For the majority of cases, the leaves must be hand-picked from the plant at
maturity before undergoing decortication which causes the harvesting of hard fibers to be a very energy and
time intensive task.[3]

Sisal and abaca are the primary leaf fibers that are harvested and sold. These are both mainly used to make
rope or matting but, as technology continues to advance these, and other, hard fibers are being able to be
broken down and pulped to be used in paper products.[1]

Not much research is being looked into the possibilities and abilities of leaf fibers as they are very hard to
harvest and process so synthetic fibers are more commonly used in their place.[3]

Common fibers
Abaca (Manila Hemp) - cordage
Piña - cloth
Sisal - cordage, matting
Cantala - woven fabrics
Phormium - flax, cordage

References
1. Levetin, Estelle; McMahon, Karen (2012). Plants and Society. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
pp. 297–298. ISBN 978-0-07-352422-1.
2. Ilvessalo-Pfäffli, Marja-Sisko (1995). Fiber Atlas. Springer. pp. Chapter 9. ISBN 978-3-662-
07212-7.
3. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica (1998-07-20). "Leaf Fibre" (https://www.britannica.com/
science/leaf-fiber). Encyclopædia Britannica.

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This page was last edited on 12 September 2020, at 09:28 (UTC).

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