Extraction and Production of Agro–Sack from Kenaf (Hibiscus Cannabinus L.), Banana (Musa Sapientum) and Plantain (Musa Paradisiacal) Fibres for Packaging Agricultural Produce

The purpose of this research work is to establish a process for the production of biodegradable sack from kenaf, banana and plantain fibres of Nigerian origin for packaging a wide range of industrial and agricultural based produce such as cotton linters, cocoa, onions, potatoes, grains, oil seeds etc. The bio-degradable properties of the agro-sacks are of benefit in minimizing environmental solid waste generation and also increase the shelf life stability of agro-products. The stalks of abundant unutilized banana/plantain stems which are regarded as agro-forestry wastes in Nigeria were retted and extracted in a controlled system. Microbial retting of stem was carried out using consortium of bacteria species isolated from soil and stem. Six (6) days of retting was achieved using Bacillus species such as; Bacillus cereus, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus polymyxa. The Physico- mechanical properties of the fibres were determined in terms of fibre density; 0.98 g/cm3, 0.86g/cm3 and 0.86g/cm3, ash content: 2.35%, 2.45% and 2.45%, moisture content: 9.18%, 10.89% and 10.78%, tensile strength; 816.7Mpa, 650.01MPa, and 583.1MPa, elongation at break; 2.85%, 2.55% and 2.65% and young's modulus; 39.52GPa, 35.85Gpa and 24.478GPa for kenaf, Banana and Plantain fibres respectively according to ASTM standard for textiles –fibres, zippers, yarns and fabrics. The extracted fibres were successfully spun into yarn using a spinning wheel, woven into fabric by interlacing warp and weft yarns in a 0.4m by 0.4m, 0.74m by 0.68m, and 1.64m by 1.32m weaving frame respectively. Our studies showed that retting of banana and plantain stems can be reduced from twenty eight (28) days to six (6) days using biological retting. The resultant fibres possess sufficient strength, uniformity, fineness and flexibility which can enable it to withstand the strains and stress of spinning and weaving process. Therefore fibres from kenaf, banana and plantain stems have potential as suitable alternative to the non indigenous jute fibres widely used for agro-sacks production.