Chemical Composition of Straw as an Alternative Material to Wood Raw Material in Fibre Isolation

Wood is still the most widely used raw material for pulp and paper production in the world. However, due to the necessity to supply the paper industry with raw materials used in the extraction of cellulose fibres and the overexploitation of forests, new sources of primary pulp fibres had to be identified. The aim of this research is to highlight the important features of cereal crop residues and their utilization in the paper industry. As the chemical composition of plant materials is one of the most important indicators of how such materials can be used in paper production, the analysis of the chemical composition of straw with the highest grain production was performed. The straw, as a harvesting residue, is a fibre resource available from the annually renewable crops, produced abundantly in numerous regions all over the world. For the purpose of the research, wheat, triticale and barley straw were selected for the analysis. The analysis of carbohydrate, lignin and extraneous material (organic extractives and inorganic minerals) was performed in order to obtain the straw chemical composition. Based on the results of the chemical composition of all analysed straw, it was confi rmed that straw, as an agricultural by-product, is rich in cellulosic fi bres and, therefore, a valuable raw material for the paper industry. Out of all analysed straw, based on the results of their chemical composition, triticale straw is considered potentially the best source of alternative cellulose fibres.
Drvo je još uvijek najčešća sirovina za proizvodnju celuloze i papira u svijetu. Međutim, s obzirom na količinu sirovine za izdvajanje celuloznih vlakanaca potrebnih papirnoj industriji te na prekomjernu eksploataciju šuma, nužno je pronaći nove izvore primarnih celuloznih vlakanca. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je istaknuti važnost slame koja je kao poljoprivredni ostatak prikladna sirovina za industriju papira. Kako je kemijski sastav biljnog materijala jedan od najvažnijih razloga njegove upotrebe u proizvodnji papira, određen je kemijski sastav slame žitarica s najvećim doprinosom zrna. Slama, kao ostatak nakon žetve, godišnje je obnovljiv izvor vlakanaca u mnogim regijama diljem svijeta proizvodi u izobilju. Za ovo je istraživanje izabrana slama pšenice, pšenoraži i ječma. Obavljena je kvantitativna analiza ugljikohidrata, lignina i ekstraktivnih tvari (organski ekstrakti i anorganski minerali) kako bi se odredio kemijski sastav slame žitarica. Na temelju kemijskog sastava svih analiziranih slama potvrđeno je kako je slama kao poljoprivredni nusproizvod bogat izvor celuloznih vlakanaca, a time i vrijedna sirovina za industriju papira. Od svih analiziranih uzoraka slama pšenoraži svojim se kemijskim sastavom nametnula kao najveći potencijalni izvor alternativnih celuloznih vlakanaca.