Compositional analysis of oil palm trunk fibres

摘要

The pulping of oil palm trunk containing parenchymatous tissues has been reported to give low pulp yield and poor pulp quality. In view of these observations, a machine known as the `fractionator' was developed to produce oil palm trunk fibres free from parenchyma. This investigation examines the chemical composition of the fibres separated from the parenchyma of the oil palm trunk using such technology. Fibres analysed in this study were found to have lower lignin (16.9percent w/w) and holocellulose (62.3percent w/w) contents compared to other hardwoods, using standard test methods. Only 5.4percen w/w of the fibres were found to be water-soluble. Hydrolysis of the water insoluble material using concentrated TFA yielded 31.9percent w/w total monosaccharides, with glucose (16.2percent w/w) and xylose (12.7percent w/w) being the major components. Loss of carbohydrates is expected during chemical pulping, reducing pulp yield and strength.