Value Addition to Sisal Leaf Through Extraction of Fibre

Abstract

Bast fibres often referred to as vegetable fibres, are extracted from plants and are classified into three categories, depending on the part of the plant they are extracted from. Fruit fibres are extracted from the fruits of the plant, they are light and hairy, and allow the wind to carry the seeds. The fibres are discrete of single entities as in cotton: ligno-cellulosic, mushy as in jute and mesta. Bast fibres are found in the stems of the plant providing the plant its strength. Usually they run across the entire lenth of the stem and are therefore very long. Fibres extracted from the leaves are rough and sturdy and form part of the plant's transportation system, they are called leaf fibres. Sisal Agave Sisalana is a multi-cellular leaf fibre occupies 6th place among plant fibres, which represent 2% of the world's production of plant. Its is a semi perennial plantation crop with a life cycle of about 12 years and the fibre is obtained from the leaf harvested yearly.