Characteristic and Physical Properties of Gros Michel and Cultivated Banana Fiber

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study the fibre separation process, and to test the characteristics and physical properties of fibers from Gros Michel and cultivated “Namwa” bananas. The research method include mechanically separating the fibers of Gros Michel and cultivated “Namwa” bananas, planning a factorial experiment using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD), separating the fibers with a mechanical fiber separating machine, and air drying. Then, the characteristics of the fibers were tested using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), with ASTM standard test method for physical properties. Research results found that there are 3 steps in the banana fiber separation process, namely (1) peeling the fibrous layer, (2) sorting the tree trunk fiber into 3 layers: external, middle and innermost , (3) separating the fibers with a semi-automatic mechanical separator. The results from fiber separation found that inner layer of fibers from the Gros Michel and the Cultivated “Namwa” Bananas have highest volume and the lightest color, 10 kilograms of fresh tree trunk produces 1 kilogram of dried fiber, or 10 percent. The longitudinal images of the Gros Michel and Cultivated “Namwa” banana fibers showed longitudinal grooves with rough surface, and the cross-section showed the lumen of bundle fibers. For physical properties, it was found that the first external layer from the Cultivated “Namwa” banana tree trunk had the highest tensile strength and highest % elongation at break value at 606.90 gf/den and 9.54 respectively. The Cultivated “Namwa” banana fiber have higher tensile strength and highest % elongation at break value than the Gros Michel fiber, with statistically significant difference at the 95% level.