Coating of Citrus Cellulose Extracted from Citrus Peel Waste on Fabric for Technical Applications

摘要

The aim of this study is to extract cellulose from peel waste of commonly grown citrus fruit named Citrus Reticulata, which is also commonly known as Kinnow. It is widely cultivated in Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is a high yield mandarin, hybrid of two citrus cultivars, Willow Leaf and King. Kinnow is classified as King of all varieties of easy peelers and considered as the best variety in the world. The juice content in mandarin is about 44% to 47.5%, which is highest in all easy peeler varieties. Citrus fruits are consumed directly as fruits as well as for fresh and concentrated juices. The residue left after juice extraction contain valuable materials which needs to be regenerated to produce goods. As a rough estimate, more than half weight (52.5%) of the citrus fruit is wasted after juice extraction which is used for animal feeding or for burning in furnaces. This largely available raw material can provide value added products through processing and will easily attract investors to develop new industries. Citrus peel contains about 12.7% to 13.6% cellulosic content in it. The extraction of cellulose will provide cheap raw material for different industries including food, paper and pulp and textiles.