Review of Related Literature

(RRL)
Cited by: https://www.britannica.com/plant/banana-plant
Banana, fruit of the genus Musa, of the family Musaceae, one of the most-important fruit
crops of the world. The banana is grown in the tropics, and, though it is most widely
consumed in those regions, it is valued worldwide for its flavour, nutritional value, and
availability throughout the year. A ripe fruit contains as much as 22 percent of carbohydrate,
mainly as sugar, and is high in dietary fibre,potassium, manganese, and
vitamins B6 and C. Cavendish, or dessert, bananas are most commonly eaten fresh, though
they may be fried or mashed and chilled in pies or puddings. They may also be used to
flavour muffins, cakes, or breads. Cooking varieties, or plantains, are starchy rather than
sweet and are grown extensively as a staple foodsource in tropical regions. Although
Cavendish bananas are by far the most-common variety imported by nontropical
countries, plantainvarieties account for about 85 percent of all banana cultivation worldwide.

According to: http://www.stuartxchange.com/Saging.html

Stuart, Godofredo Jr. MD.2006
The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant. The main or upright
stem is actually a pseudostem, growing from a corm, to a height of 6 to 7.6 meters.
Leaves are spirally arranged, as long as 2.7 meters and 60 cm wide, fragile and
easily torn by wind, with the familiar frond look. Each pseudostem produces a single
bunch of bananas; the pseudostem dies after fruiting, as offshoots usually develop
from the base of the plant. Each pseudostem produces a single inflorescence, the
banana heart, containing many bracts between rows of flowers. The banana fruits
develop from the heart, in a hanging cluster made up of tiers (hands), up to 20 fruit
to a tier.
Papermaking / Clothing: Plant fibers used in the manufacture of paper and
clothes. A related species, Musa textilis (Abaca, Manila hemp) is produced on a
commercial scale for its fiber use in the manufacture of paper .

Stated by: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/7654/banana-fibre-arevolution-in-textiles

The use of banana stems as a source of fibre declined after other convenient fibres such as
cotton and silk became popular. But in recent years the commercial value of banana fibre
has increased and it is used all over the world for multiple purposes from making tea bags
and sanitary napkins to Japanese yen notes and car tyres. Avneet Kaur writes about

the story of banana fibres, explaining in detail its use in ancient times, its

characteristics, the extraction process and the possible uses of the eco-friendly
fibres in the textile industry
Also known as musa fibre, it is one of the strongest natural fibres. This
biodegradable natural fibre from the bark of the banana plant is so durable that if
we make currency notes from it, the notes can be used for more than a hundred
years. It can be used to make silk grade saris and just as it can be used in car tyres.

Banana stem, hitherto considered a complete waste, is now is now being made into
banana-fibre cloth which comes in differing weights and thicknesses based on what
part of the banana stem the fibre was taken from. The innermost sheaths are where
the softest fibres are obtained, and the thicker and sturdier fibres come from the
outer sheaths.

Made up of thick-walled cell tissue and bonded by natural gums, banana fibre is
similar to natural bamboo fibre but its fineness and spin ability are better bamboo
and ramie fibres. It is mainly composed of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin.

According to:
http://textilelearner.blogspot.com/2014/01/properties-ofbanana-fiber.html

Properties of Banana Fibers:

Tenacity

29.98 g/denier

Fineness

17.15

Moisture Regain

13.00%

Elongation

6.54

Alco-ben Extractives

1.70%

Total Cellulose

81.80%

Alpha Cellulose

61.50%

Residual Gum

41.90%

Lignin

15.00%

The potentials
of Banana
(Musa
sapientum Lin
n.) Fiber as
Alternative

Source of
Biodegradabl
e Food
Packaging