WILD BANANA PLANTS (MUSA SPP) AS SOURCE OF FIBER FOR PAPER AND CORDAGE INDUSTRIES

Paper making grade pulp was prepared from three varieties of wild bana na plant, viz. Musa velutina Wendl & Drude, Musa sanguinea Hook and Mu sa manii Wend I ex Baker, which were collected from high altitude regi ons of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Also, fibres were extracted for ma king ropes and twines from these banana plants. The physical character istics of the banana plants were evaluated and proximate chemical anal yses were carried out. The plants contain on an average, 25-27 % sheat h, 42-48 % central core and 27-30 % leaves. The cellulose contents in the plants varied from 60.2-62.5 %. The unbleached and bleached pulp y ields were 42.9-45.0 % and 38.7-40.2 % respectively for all the three varieties. Paper hand sheets formed from bleached pulp (45 degrees SR) exhibited physical strength properties of burst indices (4.5 - 5.0 K Pam(2)g(-1)), tear indices (9.32 - 10.20 mN m(2)g(-1)) and tensile ind ices (53.3-60.8 Nmg(-1)), indicating high strength properties for writ ing and printing paper,while paper sheets prepared from pulp beaten to 90 degrees SR showed good greaseproof properties. Three Dry twines ma de from banana fibre (2.86 mm diameter) and jute fibre (3.0 mm diamete r) gave breaking loads 179.32 N and 176.70 N respectively. From this s tudy, it may be concluded that the banana plants would be good source of raw material for cordage industry and a supplementary source for pu lp and paper industry.