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ISSN: 2230‐9799 Vol. 3, Issue 3, Page 113‐118 http://www.sajeb.org
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Extraction of high quality cellulose from the stem of Calotropis procera
Somnath Maji, Rajesh Mehrotra and Sandhya Mehrotra*
Department of Biological Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan‐333031, India
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT
Article History: The stem of Calotropis procera (Vern. Aak) is a source of natural cellulosic
Received: 25 May 2013 bast fibres wherein the commercially valuable properties like cellulose con‐
Revised: 9 Jul 2013 tent, fiber strength and fiber elongation are found to be intermediate be‐
Accepted: 10 Jul 2013 tween that of cotton and linen. Other than high tensile and abrasive
strength, fibers from C. procera possess more weight per square meter than
*Corresponding Author: the cotton fibers. We have been trying to standardize protocol for isolation
Telephone: +91‐ 1596‐245073 of high quality cellulose from Calotropis. We have compared the effects of
Extn:273 alkali treatment and acid treatment on the yield and quality of cellulose fi‐
FAX: +91‐1596‐24418 bers obtained. When the retted stems of C. procera were treated with 0.5N
Email: NaOH, the natural yield of cellulose fibers was approximately 6%. The effi‐
sandhyamehrotra ciency of cellulose extraction was increased to 26% when the fibers were
bits@gmail.com treated with 80% acetic acid and concentrated nitric acid (10:1). The per‐
centage composition of cellulose was determined through infrared spectros‐
Keywords: Calotropis procera, cellu‐ copy and acid detergent fiber method by refluxing. Acid treated fibers show
lose, bast fibers, tensile strength, higher percentage of cellulose content (85%) compared to the alkali treated
abrasive strength method. The cellulose content in fibers obtained through acid treatment is
comparable with that of cotton and better than linen. The acid treated
method requires significantly less time compared to the alkali treated
method. Since Calotropis is a wildly growing shrub in major parts of India, its
use as a source of excellent cellulose fibers might have enormous economi‐
cal implications.
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Maji et al., South Asian J Exp Biol; 3 (3): 113‐118; 2013
future availability and price of the fibers from these our knowledge there are no reports available on
crops due to the limitations of land, water, and en‐ the use of C. procera stems as a source of high
ergy needed to grow these crops. Agricultural by‐ quality natural cellulose fibres.
products such as cornstalks, cornhusks and rice
straw can be used to obtain natural cellulose fibres In this study, for the first time we have used the
(Reddy and Yang, 2006; Collier et al., 1992). How‐ stems of C. procera as a source of natural cellulose
ever, the difficulty in extraction and lesser perform‐ fibres. For extraction we adopted two different es‐
ance related properties has limited its extensive tablished protocols: alkaline extraction method and
use. extraction through acidic treatment. The properties
of the fibres obtained from C. proecera have been
Therefore, efforts to find alternative fiber sources, characterized and have been compared to those of
especially from the inexpensive, abundantly avail‐ cotton and linen. The comparison will help to un‐
able and renewable lignocellulosic byproducts are derstand the unique properties of C. procera fibres
highly valuable. We belive that Calotropis procera, to study the suitability of the Calotropis for high
a wildly growing shrub could be an alternative fibre value applications. This research is a step towards
source and have the properties desired for high developing a comprehensive use of Calotropis for
value applications. various applications and we hope that Calotropis
will be considered as a source for high quality
natural cellulose fibre for textile, composites and
other applications. The data of cotton and linen are
from published literature.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Plant material
The stems of C. procera were collected from nearby
areas of campus of Birla Institute of Technology and
Sciences, Pilani and sun dried for 8‐10 days. The
leaves and small branches were separated from the
stems. The stems were washed with water 4‐5
times. Cleaned stems were put into an open water
Figure 1: Calotropis procera (Aak) tank at ambient temperature for 8 days. Retting
was done to loosen the bondage of fibers with the
Calotropis procera (Vern. Aak), commonly known as stems which is expected to affect the quantity of
Aak, is a valuable plant that is easy to grow in dry fibers and its extraction rate. The retted stems were
and arid climates and requires minimum water. It is cleaned with water and dried thoroughly. All the
a wildly growing, evergreen, erect under shrub chemicals used in this study were reagent grade
with a woody base and available in large quantity in obtained from Merck.
the sandy tracts of Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh and Gujarat States of India (Sharma, 2011). 2.2. Fiber Extraction
C. procera belonging to the Asclepiadaceae family, Two different established conditions were studied
is also known as stubborn weed and is a good to extract high quality fibers from stems of C. pro‐
source of natural cellulosic bast fiber, extracted cera. The extraction procedure was carried out with
from its stem (Figure I). The potential of using milk‐ initial 20.0 g of dried stems of C. procera. As the
weed plants as a source of pulp for paper was also inner bark was tough and not suitable for extracting
studied (Forman and Niemeyer, 1945). The floss fibres, the fibres were peeled out from outer sur‐
from the bolls is used for preparation of cloth face of the stems. The first extraction procedure
and insulating material and the leaves are used was based on alkali treatment and heating the
for composting (Varshney et al., 1987). The stem of stalks at higher temperature (Reddy and Yang,
the plant, which is at present used only by villagers 2009). The dried stems after retting were dipped in
as fuel for cooking, has fibers of acceptable 0.5N sodium hydroxide solution with a solution to
quality for various uses. C. procera has been used stem ratio of 10:1 at room temperature overnight.
as reinforcement with propylene binders in extrude The solution was then heated to 80˚C for 30 min.
composites (Nourbakhsh et al., 2008). However to The extracted component along with the solution
114
Maji et al., South Asian J Exp Biol; 3 (3): 113‐118; 2013
was drained out. Fibers from the outer portion of Acid detergent fiber method by refluxing – The
the stems peeled out and then thoroughly washed composition of the C. procera stem fibers in terms
first in warm and later in cold water. The inner bark of the percentage of cellulose was determined us‐
was very tough and not suitable for extracting fi‐ ing standard test methods. Cellulose in the fibers
bers. The fibers were rinsed with acetic acid to neu‐ was determined by the Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF)
tralize the remaining alkali and air dried. Macera‐ method through refluxing according to AOAC proto‐
tion of the fibers were done by dipping it in equal col 973.18 (Helrich, 1990).
amount of 10% nitric acid and 10% chromic acid
solutions for 24 h after initiating the reaction by 3. Results and Discussion
heating the solution at 60˚C for 5 min (Ruzin, 1999). 3.1. Fiber Extraction
The alternate established procedure of fiber extrac‐ The air dried fibers obtained contained significant
tion used in the current study was based on the amount of non fibrous un‐dissolved materials
acidic treatment of the stalks (Brendel, et al., 2000). which were removed manually (Figure II & III). The
Stems of C. procera were crushed into small pieces amount of fibers obtained was 1.206 g after taking
and dipped in solution of 80% acetic acid and con‐ 20.0 g of initial dried stems and the percentage effi‐
centrated nitric acid in the ratio of 10:1 in an oak‐ ciency of this fiber extraction procedure was 6.03%.
ridge tube. The reaction mixture was heated at
40˚C for 40 min. The reaction mixture was tapped Through the acid treated fiber extraction procedure
in every 5 min. Thereafter the solution was allowed 5.33 g of cellulose fibers were obtained after taking
to cool down. The cap of the tube was slowly re‐ 20.0 g of dried crushed stems (Figure IV). The per‐
moved due to building up of over‐pressure. The centage efficiency of this fiber extraction procedure
solution mixture was discarded from the tube. Fi‐ was 26.65% which was comparatively better than
bers were peeled out from the crushed stem the alkali treated extraction method (Table I). The
pieces. Ethanol was added to the fibers, capped, stems of C. procera were sensitive to extraction
invert shaken and centrifuged for 5 minutes at conditions. Strong alkali conditions and/or heating
10,000 rpm. After removing the supernatant the of the stalks at higher temperature above 80°C re‐
fibers were washed with distilled water, centrifuged sulted in disintegration of the bark into small fibers,
for 5 minutes at 10,000 rpm. The supernatant was which is also disadvantageous for high value fibrous
removed and acetone was added. Centrifugation applications. Also significant amount of un‐
was done at 10,000 rpm for 2 min. The samples dissolved non fibrous material were obtained
were then dried thoroughly by placing the fibers in through alkali treatment which was absent in the
the oven overnight. fibers obtained from the acidic treated condition.
The mild heating of stem fibers in acidic condition
The fibers were grinded into fine powder by treat‐ might have resulted in the disintegration of these
ing with 25% sodium hydroxide overnight. The solu‐ non fibrous materials.
tion was discarded and remaining fibers were
Alkali Treatment Acidic Treatment
mashed with mortar and pestle to obtain a paste.
Starting mate‐ 20.0 20.0
The paste material was filtered through Whatman
rial(gm)
filter paper (1MM) and was oven dried and col‐
Fibers ob‐ 1.206±0.15 5.33±0.23
lected in powdered form. This powdered form of tained(gm)
fiber was further utilized to estimate and analyze Percentage 6.03% 26.65%
the cellulose content. Efficiency
Infrared Absorption Spectra – Infrared absorption Table 1: Percentage efficiency of cellulose fibers obtained in
spectroscopy was done to analyze and compare the two different methods.
Values are Mean ± SD of 3 replicates
extracted fibers with that of commercially available
cellulose powder. The IR absorption spectra were 3.2. IR Absorption Spectra
recorded with a JASCO Model IR Report 100 ‐ IR
spectrophotometer. A solid transparent pellet was It is known that the IR spectrum of cellulose is char‐
formed by mixing the powdered sample with potas‐ acterized by a complex system of bands in the re‐
sium bromide to make an intimate mixture and gion of valence vibration of the CH and CH2 groups: ‐1
scanned between 600 and 4000 wave number (cm‐ 2969, 2944, 2912, 2900, 2888, 2972 and 2860 cm .
1
) with air as reference. The IR spectrum of the fiber extracted in this study
revealed the presence of peaks around 2900 wave
115
Maji et al., South Asian J Exp Biol; 3 (3): 113‐118; 2013
Figure 2: Image of extracted fibers Figure 3: Image of extracted fibers Figure 4: Image of extracted fiber
obtained along with un‐dissolved non after manually removing the un‐ through acidic treatment method.
fibrous materials. Extracted by the dissolved non fibrous materials.
alkaline treatment method.
A
B
Figure 5: Infrared Absorption Spectrum of (A) Cellulose, (B) Extracted fiber.
116
Maji et al., South Asian J Exp Biol; 3 (3): 113‐118; 2013
number representing the presence of C‐H and H‐C losic agricultural byproducts have cellulose content
‐H bonds. To validate the presence of cellulose ob‐ of about 40–45% but the composition of the Aak
tained from extracted fibres, IR absorption spec‐ stems is not known. Based on the high cellulose
trum was done. The result of the IR spectrum content and the relatively weak conditions used to
shows peaks around 2900 cm‐1 from extracted fibre extract the fibers, it is likely that the Aak stems may
similar as that of pure cellulose powder (obtained have higher cellulose contents than those in the
from Merck). But the intensity of the peak pro‐ common agricultural byproducts. The fibers have
duced by the extracted fibre is low as compared to strength similar to cotton and elongation higher
the pure cellulose. This low and broad peak is said than that of linen fibers (Ruzin, 1999). Overall, the
to be due to some non‐cellulosic substances in the Aak stem fibers have properties required for high
fibre. (Figure V[A] & V[B]). value texture, composites and other fibrous appli‐
cation. Since Calotropis is a wildly growing shrub in
3.3. Acid detergent Fiber by Refluxing major parts of India, its use as a source of excellent
Fibers obtained from the Aak stems have much cellulose fibers might have enormous economical
higher cellulose content as seen from the Table II. implications. Utilizing the Calotropis stems for high
The cellulose content of the Aak stem fibers is quality natural cellulose fibers will add value and
higher than that in the linen and comparable with make Calotropis procera a more useful fiber plant.
that of cellulose content in cotton. Also the fibers Acknowledgments
obtained from acidic treatment have higher cellu‐
lose content than the fibers obtained by alkaline Department of Biological sciences, BITS Pilani; De‐
treatment. As mentioned in the earlier section; Aak partment of Chemistry, BITS Pilani and administra‐
stems are very sensitive to the alkaline extraction. tion of BITS Pilani are acknowledged and thanked
The strong alkaline condition and heating of the for support in this work.
stalks at high temperature have resulted in the dis‐
integration of the cellulose fibers which produces
low cellulose content with low productivity. On the References
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