Effect of physical, chemical and biological extraction methods on the physical behaviour of banana pseudo-stem fibres: Based on fibres extracted from five common Sri Lankan cultivars

This article presents the strength, diameter, elongation and tenacity variations of banana pseudo-stem fibres extracted from five common Sri Lankan cultivars. The banana plants that were selected represent the dry and wet climatic zones of Sri Lanka. Mixtures of all layers of stem from the selected cultivars were subjected to three different extraction methods. Decortication technique was used for mechanical extraction, sodium hydroxide was used for chemical extraction and pectinase enzyme was used for biological extraction. The mechanical extraction method resulted in coarser fibres, chemical extraction resulted in a 30% reduction in the fibre diameter, while the biologically extracted fibre presented a 40% increase in fibre strength compared with the mechanically extracted fibres. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed the presence of damaged fibrils in mechanical extraction and removal of binder material in the chemical and biological extraction methods. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis proved the removal of lignin in chemical and biological extraction. Different cultivars presented different behaviours in extensibility, which is common in natural fibres.