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Journal of Applied Sciences

Year: 2014 | Volume: 14 | Issue: 12 | Page No.: 1355-1358
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Authors

Zawawi Daud

Mohd Zainuri Mohd Hatta

Angzzas Sari Mohd Kassim

Ashuvila Mohd Aripin

Keywords

Malaysia relies on agriculture as one of its economy sector. Unavoidably, abundance quantity of agro wastes is produced at every harvesting season. With proper planning and management, the agro waste material can benefit to many production industries. The studied crop is pineapple (Ananas comosus) leaves. This agro waste material has a high potential to become an alternative fiber in paper making industry. The objective of this study is to analyse the chemical compositions of pineapple leaves and to investigate the fiber morphology properties of pineapple leaves fiber. The chemical compositions of fiber were analyzed by TAPPI Test method, Chlorination method and Kurschner-Hoffner method. Chemical compositions analysed are Cellulose (Kurschner-Hoffner), Holocellulose (Chlorination method), Hemicellulose (Chlorination method), Ash content (T211-om-93), Lignin content (T222-om-98) and Sodium Hydroxide solubility (T203-om-88). Results indicate pineapple leaves have a high Holocellulose content (85.7%), followed by Cellulose (66.2%) and Hemicellulose (19.5%) content. Lignin content is the lowest (4.2%) compared to other chemical compositions in this study. Pineapple leaves morphology was observed by Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) which showed a condensed composition of fiber structure. The chemical compositions and morphology study of pineapple leaves indicate that it is suitable to be used as an alternative pulp in paper making industry, promoting the green technology.
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