Chemical and Physical Characteristics of Four Weed Seed Fibers (Hemistepta lyrata, Imperata cylindrica var. koenigii, Metaplexis japonica and Typha latifolia)

Abstract

In this study, we investigated several chemical and physical characteristics of 4 weed seed fibers; Hemistepta lyrata (HEMLY), Imperata cylindrica var. koenigii (IMPCK), Metaplexis japonica (METJA) and Typha latifolia (TYPLA). In chemical composition, there were 74 (TYPLA)-88.5% (METJA) of holocellulose, 17 (IMPCK)-24% (METJA) of lignin, 0.22 (METJA)-4.2% (IMPCK) of ash, 2.2 (HEMLY)-7.8% (IMPCK) of hot water extractives and 0.4 (IMPCK)-6.3% (TYPLA) of solvent extractives. Alpha-cellulose proportion to holocellulose was similar among weed seed fibers as 45-48%. The crystallinity index (CI) of raw seed fibers was 53.2 (TYPLA)-65.9% (HEMLY). However, CI of the chemical treated fibers (EDA fibers) was a little increased and showed 61.1 (IMPCK)-71.8% (METJA). The maximum thermal decomposition temperature (MTDT) of the raw seed fibers were