Identification of Yak Hair Scanning Electron Microscopy in Northwest China

Yak (<i>Bos grunniens</i>) was a unique species living in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and grassland which has plateau cold climate. With excellent warm, soft, breathable features, yak hair has always been woven as raw materials for the tent by local herders. China's yak hair resources were very rich, with an annual output of yak hair up to 10,000 tons or more. Yak felt products were expensive. Criminals used the hair of other animals to impersonate yaks and made felt for sale. This behavior disturbed the order of the market and damaged the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. In order to understand the characteristics of yak hair, this paper observed and analyzed the different of yak wool fibers between Tibet and Qinghai. The fresh yak hairs of Tibet were used as the experimental group and the yak specimens of Qinghai were used as the control group. The crude fibers of Yak leg were a myelinated hair and consisted of the scale layer, the cortex and the medulla layer by SEM (scanning electron microscopy). The wear degree of coarse wool fiber at the same parts was lower than the two-type hair fiber. There were differences in the structure of scales between black and white hairs. The characteristics of yak hair were very obvious, and the microstructure differences of yak hair between different production areas were also significant. The electron microscope detection operation was simple and the results were clear. This method can be used as a rapid identification technique for identifying yak felt products.