Study on the degumming process of Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic fiber

Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic has drawn much attention recently due to its potential beneficial health effects. The roots, flowers and seeds of A.manihot play an important role as medical materials. In this paper, the result of the chemical composition testing shows that the main constituent of A.manihot bast of the stems is cellulose (41.80 %). A.manihot fibers are extracted from A.manihot bast by the treatment of degumming. In the degumming process, the key parameters have been optimized. The results of FTIR and XRD analysis indicated that hemicellulose, lignin, pectin and other impurities can be effectively removed by this degumming process, and the main components of A.manihot fiber was cellulose much the same as cotton, the crystallinity of A.manihot bast and fiber were 50.45% and 63.73% respectively.