Effect of enzymatic process on characteristics of cottonized industrial hemp fibre.

This paper reports an investigation on the bacteria-based enzyme's cottonization of industrial hemp fibre. The industrial hemp fibres are enzyme processed to eliminate massive non-cellulosic portions from the fibre to enhance their fineness and softness. Box-Behnken response surface methodology is applied to optimize the effect of different concentrations, temperature and time by using enzymes on chemical and physical properties, like weight loss, average strength, length, chemical composition, and surface modification to simulate cotton feel touch. The results show that the pectin, lignin, hemicellulose, and other impurities are removed under the enzyme and alkali refining processes. The effect of the enzyme concentration, treatment time, and treatment temperature is found significant on weight loss, fibre diameter, crystallinity, cellulose, hemicelluloses content, and tenacity. The effluent load of the enzyme process by measuring COD is also found less than that of the alkali processing for industrial hemp fibre. Industrial hemp fibre can be a perfect model of the sustainability of fibre from the plant's inception into the entire life cycle, leading to the biodegradable product reducing less effluent load in an environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]