Waste management after coconut harvesting is a real problem at a national level. Coconut production in Benin increases considerably every year, especially in the coastal and Atlantic departments. To help manage this waste while helping to preserve the environment, the development of a composite material based on coconut fibres is one of the alternatives for moving towards renewable and biodegradable eco-materials. This article describes the physical, mechanical, chemical and biochemical characteristics of coconut fibres in their natural state. Once the fibres had been extracted, their morphological and physical characteristics were determined (absolute density, fibre diameter and length). A biochemical analysis of the fibres determined the proportion of chemical elements they contain. These results are supported by those obtained by X-ray diffraction on the fibres. Physical test results show that the average fibre density is 1.05 g/cm3, the average fibre diameter is 417 μm and the average fibre length is between 24 and 26 cm. Biochemical analysis shows that the fibres are composed of 47.20% cellulose, 1.25% hemicellulose, 45.25% lignin and 6.30% pectin. The diffractogram obtained from the X-ray diffraction peaks shows that the fibres are essentially made up of cellulose. According to the results of mechanical tests (simple tensile test), the average tensile strength of the fibres is 125.45 MPa. These results show that coconut fibres have a low density and very good tensile strength, and can be used to reinforce the mechanical performance of soils.
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