Evaluation of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of stem fibers and pulp obtained from seed flax (Linum usititassimum L.)

Document Type : Complete scientific research article

Author

Associate Professor, Department of Paper Science and Engineering, Faculty of Wood and Paper Engineering, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Although the main goal of seed flax (Linum usititassimum L.) cultivation is to produce seeds and extract oil from it, significant amounts of long bast fibers of this plant can be a very suitable source of long fibers used in papermaking industries. The objectives of this study were to examine the quantitative, qualitative and pulping characteristics of seed flax and to investigate the effect of planting distance on these characteristics.

Materials and methods: This study was conducted from May to August 2015 at the UPark farm of the University of Maine, USA. The experiments were carried out using split Plot with a randomized complete block design. The main factors included 4 planting distances (9.0, 5.1, 2.2, and 4.4 cm) and the secondary factors included 3 harvest times (50, 75, and 100 days after planting). The distance between the planting rows was 4.25 cm and each plot consisted of 5 rows, each 2 meters long. At 50, 75, and 100 days after planting, the diameter and length of the stems were measured for 30 samples from each of the three middle rows of each plot. After harvesting the samples, various plant components (core, stem bast, leaves, roots, and fruit capsules) were measured and their weights and weight percentages per hectare were calculated in the laboratory. Additionally, fiber biometrics of the stem bast and core were also performed. Pulping experiments were also conducted using the bast and the whole stem with two methods: SO2-ethanol-water (SEW) and soda. All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software, and the comparison of means was conducted using the Duncan test at the 1% and 5% levels.

Results: The ANOVA results showed that the individual effects of different factors on the length and diameter of seed flax stem were significant at the 1% level, while their interaction was not significant. Increasing planting distance resulted in higher yields of stem, root, leaf, and fruit capsule. Despite a decrease in the percentage of seed flax stem bast from 33 to 25.4% when the planting distance increased from 0.9 cm to 4.4 cm, the overall stem yield increased significantly. The longest bast and core fibers (4700 and 608 µm, respectively) were observed at a planting distance of 0.9 cm, while the shortest (4080 and 510 µm, respectively) were at 4.4 cm. Pulping experiments from the whole stem using soda and SEW methods showed that the highest and lowest yields were 62.9% and 48.57%, respectively, at cooking times of 30 and 90 minutes in the SEW process. The ANOVA results showed that the independent effects of planting distance and stem components on the Kappa number of the resulting SEW pulps were significant at the 5% and 1% levels, respectively. The highest Kappa number (62.12) was associated with the pulp obtained from the core of seed flax planted at a distance of 4.4 cm, while the lowest (14.88) was associated with the bast of seed flax at a planting distance of 0.9 cm. According to the Duncan grouping test, no significant difference was observed between the Kappa values of the pulp obtained from the core of seed flax planted at distances of 0.9 and 4.4 cm.

Conclusion: By increasing the planting distance of seed flax, the yield of bast and core of stem increases. Qualitatively, the length of bast and core fibers decreases; so that the length of bast fibers is always about 8 times the length of core fibers. In terms of pulping, the Kappa and the yield of SEW pulp obtained from the bast and the core of the stem increases.

Keywords

Main Subjects


  1. Adu, C., Jolly, M., & Thakur, V.K. 2018. Exploring new horizons for paper recycling: A review of biomaterials and biorefinery feedstocks derived from wastepaper. Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry. 13: 21-26.
  2. Kaur, D., Bhardwaj, N.K., & Lohchab, R.K. 2017. Prospects of rice straw as a raw material for paper making. Waste Management. 60: 127-139.
  3. Marques, G., Rencoret, J., Gutiérrez Suárez, A., & Río Andrade, J. 2010. Evaluation of the chemical composition of different non-woody plant fibers used for pulp and paper manufacturing. The Open Agriculture J. 4: 93-101.
  4. González-García, S., Moreira, M.T., Artal, G., Maldonado, L., & Feijoo, G. 2010. Environmental impact assessment of non-wood based pulp production by soda-anthraquinone pulping process. J. of Cleaner Production. 18: 2. 137-145.
  5. Stavropoulos, P., Mavroeidis, A., Papadopoulos, G., Roussis, I., Bilalis, D., & Kakabouki, I. 2023. On the path towards a “Greener” EU: A mini review on flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) as a Case Study. Plants. 12: 5. 1102.
  6. Berglund, D.R., & Zollinger, R.K. 2002. Flax production in North Dakota. North Dakota State University Press, Fargo, North Dakota. Pp: 1-10.
  7. Khajepour, M.R. 2005. Industrial plants. Agricultural Jihad Publishing House of Isfahan. (In Persian).
  8. Arslanoglu, Ş.F., Sert, S., Şahin, H.A., Aytaç, S., & El Sabagh, A. 2022. Yield and yield criteria of flax fiber (Linum usititassimum L.) as influenced by different plant densities. Sustainability. 14: 8. 4710.
  9. FAO. 2022. Food and Agriculture data. Rome, available at: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home.
  10. Abd Eldaiem, M.A.M. 2015. Response of some flax genotypes under different plant densities. J. of Plant Production. 6: 7. 1247-1261.
  11. El-Gedwy, E.S.M. 2020. Effect of nitrogen fertilizer rates and pant density on straw, fiber yield and anatomical manifestations of some flax cultivars. Annals of Agricultural Science. Moshtohor. 58: 4. 855-700.
  12. Santos, R.F., Tomassoni, F., Bassegio, D., da Silva, T.R.B., Siqueira, J.A.N.C., de Souza, S.N.M., Antonio, L., & Secco, D. 2016. Brown flax grown under different planting densities. African J. of Agricultural Research. 11: 10. 800-804.
  13. Saleem, M.H., Fahad, S., Khan, S.U., Din, M., Ullah, A., Sabagh, A.E., & Liu, L. 2020. Copper-induced oxidative stress, initiation of antioxidants and phytoremediation potential of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) seedlings grown under the mixing of two different soils of China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 27: 5. 5211-5221.
  14. Tatari, A., Dehghani Firouzabadi, M.R., Saraeyan, A.R., and Aryaie Monfared, M.H. 2017. Comparative study of the characteristics of pulp and paper prepared by Sulfur dioxide-Ethanol-Water (SEW) and soda from bagasse fiber. Iranian J. of Wood and Forest Science and Technology. 24: 3. 221-239. (In Persian)
  15. Tatari, A., Dehghani Firouzabadi, M.R., Saraeyan, A.R., Aryaie Monfared, M.H., and Yadollahi, R. 2017. Effects of washing method on the bagasse pulping characteristics processed by the sulfur dioxide-ethanol-water (SEW) method. Iranian J. of Wood and Paper Industries. 7: 4. 549-559. (In Persian)
  16. Hurter, R.W., and Byrd, M.V. 2019. Pulping and TCF bleaching of Canadian seed flax straw. TAPPI 19PEERS Conference, October 27-30, 2019, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Pp:1-46.
  17. Goudenhooft, C., Bourmaud, A., & Baley, C. 2019. Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) fibers for composite reinforcement: exploring the link between plant growth, cell walls development, and fiber properties. Frontiers In Plant Science. 10, 411.
  18. Abd El-Mohsen, A.A., Abdallah, A.M., & Mahmoud, G.O. 2013. Optimizing and describing the influence of planting dates and seeding rates on flax cultivars under Middle Egypt region conditions. World Essays J. 1: 4. 142-152.
  19. Emam, S.M., & Dewdar, M.D. 2015. Seeding rates and phosphorus source effects on straw, seed and oil yields of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) grown in newly-reclaimed soils. International J. of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences. 4: 3. 334-343.
  20. Abou-Zied, K.A., Sanaa, S., Hassan, K.H.E., & Nawar, A.I. 2015. Effect of seeding rates and weed control treatments on productivity and weed suppression in flax cultivar Sakha. Alexandria J. of Agricultural Research. 60: 3. 221-228.
  21. Sánchez Vallduví, G.E., & Sarandón, S.J. 2011. Effects of changes in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) density and interseeding with red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) on the competitive ability of flax against Brassica weeds. J. of Sustainable Agriculture. 35: 8. 914-926.
  22. Iakovlev, M., Sixta, H., & van Heiningen, A. 2011. SO2-ethanol-water (SEW) pulping: II. Kinetics for spruce, beech, and wheat straw. J. of Wood Chemistry and Technology. 31: 3. 250-266.
  23. Huang, C., Ma, J., Liang, C., Li, X., & Yong, Q. 2018. Influence of sulfur dioxide-ethanol-water pretreatment on the physicochemical properties and enzymatic digestibility of bamboo residues. Bioresource Technology. 263: 17-24.
  24. Huang, C., Sun, R., Chang, H.M., Yong, Q., Jameel, H., & Phillips, R. 2019. Production of dissolving grade pulp from tobacco stalk through SO2-ethanol-water fractionation, alkaline extraction, and bleaching processes. BioResources. 14: 3. 5544-5558.
  25. Sharazi, A.M. 2017. SO2-alcohol-water fractionation of sugarcane straw. The University of Maine.146p.
  26. Sharazi, A.M., & Van Heiningen, A. 2017. Ethyl xylosides formation in SEW (AVAP®) fractionation of sugarcane straw; implications for ethanol and xylose recovery. Holzforschung. 71: 12. 951-959.
  27. Dehghani Firouzabadi, M., & Tatari, A. 2023. SO2-ethanol–water (SEW) and Kraft pulp and paper properties of Eldar pine (Pinus eldarica): a comparison study. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery. Pp: 1-9. DOI: 10.1007/s13399-023-03785-x.
  28. Tatari, A., Dehghani Firouzabadi, M. and Ghasemian, A. 2023. The effect of ethanol concentration of the SO2-ethanol-water (SEW) process liquor on the characteristics of Eldar pine (Pinus eldarica) pulp. J. Forest Wood Products. 76: 1. 1-10. (In Persian)
  29. Tekleyohanis, T. 2020. Production and characterization of pulp from flax straw. M.Sc. Thesis, Addis Ababa University. 90p.