PALF/Skin Extracted Pineapple Juice: New Potential as Pulping and Bleaching Agent in Papermaking and Its Effect on Mechanical and Physical Properties.

Pineapple has been known for a number of beneficial biological activities such as anti-oxidative and antibrowning. Some of these bioactivities are contributed by enzymatic complex in pineapple and it can be found mainly in the skin extracted pineapple juice. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the pineapple juice as a pulping and bleaching agent in the process of papermaking. During pulping of pineapple leaf fibre, the mixture of pineapple juice/water was added together with a constant amount of 3% Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) at various concentration of pineapple juice (0%, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80%). Pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) was soaked several times with pineapple juice and NaOH during pulping and bleaching process in order to get the optimum results of the paper sheet obtained. The mechanical and physical properties of paper sheet were studied by measuring its tensile strength, tear resistance and water absorption. Comparatively, paper sheet produced from NaOH pulping shows better mechanical and physical properties than the mixture pulping of NaOH and pineapple juice. Additionally, pulping with higher concentration of pineapple juice tends to give long fibre rather than short fibre. Overall, the results of this study can be used as an alternative way in the production of paper and it also opens a door to utilize wisely the waste residue of pineapple in other sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]