Extracting Fiber From Banana Stems

The banana plant or banana fruit not only produces delicious fruits but also provides textile fiber called banana fiber. Banana fiber is a natural fiber. It is a plant fiber. Natural fiber offers important advantages such as low density, suitable stiffness and mechanical properties, and high disposability and renewability. Also, they are recyclable and biodegradable. Much research has been done on the use of natural fibers in reinforcement.Choose banana stems that are mature, i.e., they have already produced fruit and are no longer required by the plant.

Harvest the stems: Cut the stems close to the ground and remove the outer layer of the stems

Separate the fibers: Gently separate the fibers by hand or with a blunt instrument, being careful not to damage the fibers

Soak the fibers: Soak the separated fibers in water for a few hours to soften them and make them easier to work with

Remove non-fibrous material: Remove non-fibrous material such as pith and bark from softened fibers.

Wash the fibers: Rinse the fibers thoroughly with clean water to remove any dirt or debris

Dry the fibers: Spread the fibers out to dry in the sun or in a well-ventilated area.

Once the fibers are dried, they can be used to make paper, textiles or composites. The extracted fiber is further processed to improve its quality and strength.

Characteristics of Banana fiber

• Banana fiber has its own physical and chemical characteristics and many other properties that make it a fine quality fiber.

• The aspect of banana fiber is similar to that of bamboo fiber and ramie fiber, but its fineness and spinability are superior to both.It is lightweight and short length and also very strong fiber .

• It has a somewhat glossy appearance depending on the extraction and spinning process.It has strong moisture absorbing qualities. It absorbs and releases moisture very quickly.

• It is biodegradable and does not have a negative effect on the environment, so it can be classified as an eco-friendly fiber.

• It can be spun in all spinning methods including ring spinning, open-end spinning, paste fiber spinning and semi-worst spinning.

Banana Fiber Extraction Processing, Spinning and Weaving

Extracting the natural fiber from the plant requires some care to avoid damage. In the present experiments, banana plant segments were initially cut from the main stem of the plant and then lightly rolled to remove excess moisture.The impurities on the rolled fibers such as pigments, broken fibers, cellulose coating etc. were manually removed by combing and then the fibers were cleaned and dried. Mechanical and manual extraction of banana fiber was difficult, time-consuming and damaged the fiber. Consequently, this type of technique cannot be recommended for industrial use.

A special machine was designed and developed for mechanically automated extraction of banana fibers. It consisted mainly of two horizontal beams through which a carriage with a specially designed comb moved back and forth.Fiber extraction using this technique can be done simply by placing the cleaned part of the banana stem on the fixed platform of

the machine and clamping the ends with the jaws. This eliminated the relative movement of the rods and avoided premature breakage of the fibers. This is followed by cleaning and drying the fibers in a chamber at 200c for three hours. These fibers were labeled and ready for the lamination process.After the fiber is collected, the process proceeds to spinning. The researcher studied the traditional process of using filament yarns in weaving banana cloth. The finding showed that the conference process was too time-consuming and therefore not suitable for today's use. Therefore, this research investigated the open-ended spinning process for yarn development. The fiber was cut into 3-cm lengths for the spinning process.After the yarn is spun, it is woven on the looms in the same way as other materials.

Uses of Banana Fiber

In recent times, banana fibers had very limited use and were primarily used to make materials such as ropes, mats and some other composite materials. With the growing importance of environmental awareness and eco-friendly fabrics, banana fiber has been recognized for all its good qualities and is now increasingly being used in other sectors such as apparel and home furnishings. Banana fiber is also used to make excellent cushion covers, neckties, bags, tablecloths, curtains etc.