It consists of phloem fibres from the stem of various species of the Corchorus; C. capsularis Linn, C. olitorius Linn, and other species like C. cunninghamii, C. junodi etc., belonging to family Tiliaceae.
JUTE
Synonym
Gunny.
Biological Source
It consists of phloem fibres from the stem of various
species of the Corchorus; C. capsularis
Linn, C. olitorius Linn, and other
species like C. cunninghamii, C. junodi
etc., belonging to family Tiliaceae.
Geographical Source
West Bengal and Assam.
History
Corchorus is a genus with 40–100 species of
flowering plants. It is native to
tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. Though various species
yield fibre, the chief sources of commercial jute are two Indian species the C. capsularis
and C. olitorius. These species
are grown in Ganges and Brahmaputra
valleys.
For past many centuries, Jute has been an integral part of
Bengali culture. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, much of the raw
jute fibres were exported to the United Kingdom. In ’50s and ’60s (when nylon
and polythene were rarely used), Pakistan was the world’s lead jute producer.
During those periods it had earned its money through jute of East Pakistan,
(now called the Bangladesh). Jute was called the ‘Golden fibre’ of Bangladesh
because it brought the major portion of the foreign currency for the country.
World’s largest jute trade and jute processing economy was located in
Bangladesh. Adamjee Jute Mill in Narayanganj, Bangladesh was world’s largest
jute mill with 1,939 looms and 25,000 employees up to 2002. Presently Sonali
Aansh is one of the largest jute products manufacturers in Bangladesh.
Description
They are tall, usually annual herbs, reaching to a height of
2–4 m, unbranched and if branched it has only a few side branches. The leaves
are alternate, simple, lanceolate, 5–15 cm long and a finely serrated or lobed
margin. The flowers are small (1.5–3 cm in diameter) and yellow, with five
petals; the fruit encloses many seeds in the capsule.
Preparation
Retting is the process for the preparation of bast fibres.
This process is done by three methods, that is, microbial (or water), steam,
and mechanical process. The microbial or water retting process is the oldest
and the popular method employed for the breaking of lignin bond present between
parenchyma and sclerenchyma. The breaking of this bond facilitates the easy
procurement of skin from its core. Then the material is washed dried to release
pectin bond which makes the hard skin to fine thread like fibres. The jute
fibres are graded according to its colour, strength and fibre length. The
fibres are of white to brown and 1–4 m. long.
Microscopy
A thin transverse section of the strand when treated with phuloroglucinol
and HCl, stains the strands deep red, indicating the presence of lignin. Each
strand is a collection of polygonal cells which are surrounded by lumen with
various sizes. These strands can be separated by treating it with mixture of
potassium chloride and nitric acid.
Chemical Constituents
Jute fibres are composed primarily of the plant materials
cellulose and lignin. Jute is composed of about 50–53% cellulose, nearly 20%
of hemicellulose and 10–11% of lignin along with other constituents like
moisture not more than 12–13%, fats, wax, and ash contributing to 1% each.
Uses
It has a large range of use (about 1,000 uses). It is listed
as the second most important vegetable fibre after cotton. Jute is used chiefly
to make cloth for wrapping bales of raw cotton, in the preparation of sacks and
coarse cloth. They are also woven into curtains, chair coverings, carpets,
Hessian cloth very fine threads of jute can be made into imitation silk and
also in the making of paper. It is even used in the manufacture of tows,
padding splints, filtering, and straining medium. Jute is used for the preparation
of coarse bags.
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