Linen Most Useful: Perspectives on Structure, Chemistry, and Enzymes for Retting Flax

Table 8

Properties of enzyme-retted and commercially cleaned and cottonized flax fiber.

Fiber; sample^a	Viscozyme/EDTA; (%/mM)	Fineness; (air flow)	Strength; (g tex^−1)^b	Fine fiber yield (%)
Seed flax straw	0.05/50	5.9 ± 0.1^b,c	25.9 ± 2.9^b,c	25.3 ± 1.0^e,f
		6.1 ± 0.1	24.7 ± 1.9
Seed flax straw	0.05/25	6.0 ± 0.2^b	19.6 ± 1.1^d,e	23.6 ± 1.0^f
		6.1 ± 0.1	25.3 ± 3.0*
Ariane (early)	0.05/50	5.8 ± 0.1^c,d	24.0 ± 2.0^c	30.7 ± 8.8^d,e
		5.5 ± 0.1	25.0 ± 4.5
Ariane (early)	0.05/25	5.7 ± 0.1^d	20.9 ± 1.3^d	37.9 ± 0.2^b,c
		6.1 ± 0.1	25.3 ± 3.0*
Ariane (early)	0.3/50	3.9 ± 0.1^g	13.0 ± 1.3^g	61.4 ± 0.7^a
		4.1 ± 0	16.3 ± 1.9*
Ariane (early)	0.3/25	4.6 ± 0.1^f	15.8 ± 1.8^f	58.7 ± 1.1^a
		4.5 ± 0.2	15.6 ± 2.1
Ariane (early)	dew-retted	5.3 ± 0.1^e	36.2 ± 2.3^a	43.0 ± 1.1^b
		5.3 ± 0.2	32.5 ± 2.2*
Ariane (late)	0.05/50	6.7 ± 0.1^a	26.8 ± 3.4^b	32.3 ± 0.3^c,d
		7.1 ± 0.1	28.6 ± 3.7

^aSeed flax straw was from North Dakota, USA and grown in 1999. Ariane was either grown optimally as a winter crop in South Carolina, USA, 1999, for fiber (early) or to maturity for seed (late). Flax stems were enzyme retted by soaking for 2 min and washing with water. The fiber was cleaned in a commercial system in Humpolec, Czech Republic through the Unified Line followed by cottonizing by the La Roche system.
^bThe first number in each column is for samples tested in August, 1999 (2–4 months after retting), and the second number is for the same samples tested April, 2002 (30 month later).
^a−gWithin columns and for samples tested August, 1999, values with different lower case letters differ, 𝑃<0.05.
*Within columns and for a particular sample, values for two test dates differ, 𝑃<0.05, using the 𝑡 test.
Data from [33].