Kenaf Bast Fibers—Part I: Hermetical Alkali Digestion

Table 1

Yields and chemical compositions of the digested fibers.

Digestion temperature (°C)	Yield (%)	Chemical composition (%)
		Holocellulose	α-cellulose	Hemicellulose*	Lignin	Ash
(Control fiber)		75.8	46.0	29.8	19.1	5.1
80	56.8	84.1	81.4	2.7	10.5	3.0
110	57.3	85.8	84.0	1.8	10.0	3.2
130	53.2	87.8	86.6	1.2	8.1	2.8
160	44.6	94.2	92.3	0.9	0.24	2.7

*Hemicellulose content is calculated from the difference between holocellulose and α-cellulose content.