Processing of Banana Fibre in Jute Spinning System and Product Development

A number of crops are grown in different parts of India. The agricultural residue of these crops, which mostly goes as waste, has huge potentiality for yielding fibres of textile use. With the growing consciousness for the use of natural fibre products, these fibres can play a significant role if proper processing technology and products of today's need can be developed out of these fibres. One such fibre is the fibre extracted from banana trunk sheath. Banana plant (Musa Sapientum) (Mauerberger, 1954) is grown in different part of India and the trunk or the trunk sheath is thrown away after harvesting banana fruit. From the sheath of its trunk, the banana fibre is obtained after scotching and washing in water or dilute chemical. The extraction of fibre from banana trunk sheath is gaining popularity day by day, especially in village level. The fibre is allied to jute and can be processed in jute spinning machines with some adjustments either individually or blends with jute and other natural fibres like sisal, sunhemp aloe etc. The present studies will through some light on the quality of banana fibres being extracted in India, scope of yarn formation in jute spinning system either singularly or in blend with jute, development of fabrics from banana fibre based yarn and their properties and various product developments in centralized and decentralized sectors, etc. However it is needed to staple banana fibres for efficient processing in jute spinning machineries. Bleaching and dyeing of banana fibre and banana fibre based yarns and their physical and mechanical properties have also been reported.