Textile characteristics of fiber from Huacaya alpacas (Vicugna pacos)

Abstract

Fiber from alpacas represents a substantial component of economic output for South American countries. In this study it determined the textile characteristics of fibers obtained from Huacaya alpacas raised at the South American Camelids Research and Development Center-Lachocc (CRDC-Lachocc) located at The National University of Huancavelica (UNH). Fleece samples were obtained from the midside rib area of 74 white alpacas (42 females and 32 males) of varying ages. The Average Fiber Diameter (AFD), Standard Deviation of the Average Fiber Diameter (SDAFD), Fiber Diameter Coefficient of Variation (FDCV), Comfort Factor (CF) and Staple Length (SL) were measured as textile characteristics and related to sex and age group. Most of the fleece samples could be classified as baby alpaca fleece according to the Peruvian Technical Standard classification (231.301.2014). Sex had no influence on any textile characteristic (p > 0.05). Meanwhile, age affected only AFD and CF (p < 0.05). Together the results indicated that alpacas farmed at CRDC-Lachocc had good potential to produce high quality fibers.

Comparing fiber quality characteristics and staple length in Suri and Huacaya alpacas

“…Females have a longer staple than males; however, in one study, males had a greater fiber length than females (Lupton et al, 2006). According to recent studies, sex does not influence the staple length (Paucar-Chanca et al, 2019;Quispe et al, 2021a); the difference might be caused by genetic influences (Anello et al, 2022), different shearing practices, high selection pressure in males, or physiological state in females.…”

“…There is a negative correlation between CF and MFD (-0.95), such as -0.94 and -0.93 reported by Paucar-Chanca et al (2019) in alpacas from Peru and by Simbaina and Raggi (2019) in alpacas from Ecuador, respectively. Likewise, in the white finest fibers the comfort increases or vice versa.…”

Factores que afectan la calidad de fibra de alpaca

“…Cabe resaltar que la alimentación y cuidado de la alpaca se basa en la elaboración de fibra, siendo su comodidad, apariencia y rendimiento durante el proceso textil factores que determinan su valor comercial en el mercado (Mayo et al , 1994 citado por Paucar et al , 2019). Además, las percepciones de la calidad de la fibra son diferentes tanto para los procesadores como para los consumidores, ya que poseen distintos requisitos para el fin del uso de la fibra de alpaca, por lo que los procesadores toman en cuenta el desempeño y la conformidad de la fibra mientras que los consumidores solo observan la estética y la percepción del producto (Saldaña, 2017).…”

“…El diámetro de las fibras, coeficiente de la variabilidad de la hebra y la carga del vellón y son algunos de estos factores importantes. (Paucar et al, 2019).…”