Page 338 - Handbook of Properties of Textile and Technical Fibres

Hemp, jute, banana, kenaf, ramie, sisal fibers 311

9.5.2 Jute fiber

Jute (Corchorus capsularis/Corchorus olitorius) is mainly grown for its fiber, and it
is one of the most important natural fibers after cotton (Pan et al., 2000). It belongs to
the bast fiber group and is one of the cheapest fibers grown in tropical regions. The
history of jute dates back to 206 BCeAD 221; jute paper was discovered in Dun-
huang, in the Gansu Province of China, and is believed to have been produced dur-
ingthe reignofthe WesternHan Dynasty(Guo-Qing, 1989; Tsien, 1973). Historical
documents show that jute fibers were used predominantly in India during the era of
the Mughal Emperor Akbar (1542e1605) (Kundu et al., 1959; Chakrabarty, 2000).
The British East India Company traded jute from India. Since then, jute has been one
of the important fibers in terms of usage, consumption, production, and availability.
The jute fiber industry expanded greatly during 1800s in Dundee, Scotland (Kundu
et al., 1959; Chakrabarty, 2000). The global production of jute fibers is around
3
2300 10 tons and a major portion of it is contributed by India, China, and
Bangladesh. The height range of the jute plant is between 2 and 4 m, and the fibers
are obtained by the retting process. Jute fibers have been studied to understand the
fiber structure and the properties (Pan et al., 2000). The cellulose content of jute
fibers was found to be in the range of between 61% and 71.5%. Availability of
the jute fiber in large quantities makes it a popular reinforcement among automotive
manufacturers (Lewington, 2003). Jute takes nearly 3 months to grow to its
maximum height during one season, and then it is cut and bundled and kept
immersed in water for the separation process, during which the inner and outer stems
separate to release the fibers. The plant is then separated and washed to remove dust.
The fiber, after drying, is taken to jute mills to be converted to yarn and hessian
(Ramesh et al., 2013).

9.5.3 Banana fiber

It is a well-known fact that banana is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. It
belongs to the Musaceae family and there are approximately 300 species, but only 20
varieties are used for consumption. Approximately 70 million metric tons of bananas
are produced every year by the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The nutri-
tional facts of banana are as follows: carbohydrates, 18.8 g; protein, 1.15 g; fat, 0.18 g;
water, 73.9 g; vitamins C1, B1, B2, B6, E, other minerals, 0.83 g; and energy, 81 kcal.
Banana plants generally produce 30 large leaves (almost 2 m long and 30e60 cm wide)
(Singh et al., 2000). At present the banana fiber is a waste product of banana cultivation,
therefore without any additional cost these fibers can be obtained for industrial purposes
(Joseph et al., 2002b). Pothan et al. (2003) studied the dynamic mechanical behavior of
banana fiberereinforced polyester composites and found that the volume fraction of the
fiber had a great influence on the mechanical properties of the composites. The chemi-
cally treated banana fiberereinforced composites exhibited superior mechanical proper-
ties than untreated FRCs (Pothan and Thomas, 2003; Paul et al., 2010; Venkateshwaran
et al., 2013; Benítez et al., 2013; Pothan et al., 2002, 2006).