Preliminary Investigation of Fibre Dimensions and Morphological Properties of Pineapple Crowns and Corn Sheaths: Renewable Resources in Paper Production

Fibre characteristics are crucial parameters in determining the suitability of biomasses in paper production, impacting various aspects of the process and final product quality, particularly, paper strength and durability. This study investigated the fibre dimensions of pineapple crowns and corn sheaths and explores their potentials for paper production. Pineapple crowns and corn sheaths were macerated with the solution of acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide heated for 2hrs, the heated solution caused the agricultural residues to disintegrate into slivers. The slivers were examined under a micrometer mounted on an Olympus light microscope (Standard 25). The microscopic examination of the slivers showed the fibre dimensions such as fibre length (FL), fibre diameter (FD), lumen width (LW) and cell wall thickness (CW) of the strands. The morphological properties such as : runkel ratio = 2 ( cell wall thickness)/ lumen width, flexibility coefficient = lumen width/ fibre diameter x 100, rigidity coefficient = (cell wall thickness)/ (fibre diameter) x100 and slenderness ratio or felting power = fibre length / fibre diameter were derived using the fibre dimensions. Independent sample student t-test of GraphPad Prism, version 8.2 was used to compare the mean values for significant difference at p?0.05. Pineapple crowns exhibited fibre length of 2. 54 mm, fibre diameter 35.19 µm, lumen width 31.05 µm and cell wall thickness of 8.96 µm, the values in the range of TAPPI standard values for long fibres as found in soft woods. Corn sheaths exhibited fibre length of 1.67 mm, fibre diameter 49.31 µm, lumen width 36.67 µm and cell wall thickness of 5.75 µm as found in hardwoods.