Abstract / Excerpt:

Objectives: This study aims to prepare an acceptable pulp from papaya trunk and banana stalk; analyze the chemical properties of the unbleached and bleached pulps; and determine which of the two plants could yield a pulp that meets the standard specifications.
Conclusions/Recommendations: The Caricae papaya species and the commercial banana species called Musa sapientum can be considered as alternative raw materials for pulp and paper production. And the high alpha cellulose content int eh pulps of these plants indicates that both can also be utilized in the manufacture of cellulose derivatives. However effective bleaching process must be employed in order to obtain a pulp of high alpha cellulose, low beta cellulose, low ash, and low lining content. A single-stage bleached papaya pulp has 90.11% alpha cellulose; 5.32% beta cellulose; 5.86% ash; 2.19% lining; and a pulp yield of 81.53%. Comparing the chemical properties of the two pulps, it is banana pulp that has the superior quality. In terms of accessibility and availability, banana is in greater abundance than papaya. However, this study shows that both pulps are feasible for commercial use. It is recommended that a study should be made that will determine the effective bleaching process which will yield a quality of pulp that has low ash, lignin, hemicellulose but high alpha cellulose content. It is further recommended that other pulping processes be employed, such as the mechanical process, kraft-sulfate process, and prehydrolysis-sulfate process for comparative purposes. Lastly, analyses of the physical properties of the pulp like tensile strength, surface texture, color and break ability is recommend for deeper analyses.

Info

Source Institution	Ateneo de Davao University
Unit	Natural Science and Mathematics
Authors	Tejano, Angelito S.
Page Count	31
Place of Publication	Davao City
Original Publication Date	March 1, 1990
Tags	Banana pulp, Feasibility Study, Papaya

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