The properties of the mesocarp fibers of patauá, a multiple-use palm from the Amazonia forest

Abstract

Patauá is very little studied palm tree of the Amazonia that shows lignocellulosic fibers covering the seed that can be easily removed. This work aimed to determine some properties of the patauá mesocarp fibers in the raw and alkali treated conditions for biomaterial applications. The wastes from the depulping of the patauá were obtained in commercial establishments at Macapá-Amapá-Brazil. The fibers were manually removed from the seeds. One portion of 10 g of fibers was treated by immersion in 1000 mL of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) aqueous solution at 5% kept at 100 °C for 1 h and under mechanical stirring. The following characterizations were performed: fiber length; scanning electron microscopy; width measurement; and basic density. The patauá mesocarp fibers are actually fiber bundles with erosions in the cell wall blocked by protrusions. They are suitable for large-scale production in both raw and alkali treated conditions. The improvements achieved by alkali treatment includes unblocking of superficial erosions, decrease of the width, length and basic density of the fibrous units, and increase of crystalline index. Individualization of fiber cells was not completed by the alkali treatment proposed in this work.