Suitability of Some Local Bast Fibre Plants in Pulp and Paper Making

Morphological and Anatomical analyses were carried out on eight bast fibre plants from two families; Malvaceae and Fabaceae in Akungba-Akoko. In the anatomical study, the fibres were extracted and a total of fifty cells were measured for each species. Certain fibre properties, the cell lumen, diameter and cell wall thickness were determined from which the Runkel ratio, slenderness ratio and flexibility ratio were obtained to consider the suitability of the plants in pulp and paper making. The studies on fibre properties showed that the fibre lengths ranged between 2.20 mm for Hibiscus sabdariffa and 3.92 mm for Sida acuta with variations within the measured lengths of a species. The best fibre distributions were observed in Hibiscus cannabinus with 78% and Urena lobata 80%, having lengths of more than 2.5 mm and a Runkel ratio of less than one.