Anatomical, morphological and chemical characteristics of kaun straw (Seetaria-ltalika)

AbstractAnatomical, morphological and chemical characteristics of kaun straw were examined to assess their suitability for paper production and the properties were compared with wheat straw and rice straw. It was found that the fiber length of kaun straw is slightly shorter than that of wheat straw and longer than that of rice straw. It has wider fiber wall thickness than that of wheat straw and rice straw. It had acceptable derived values, especially slenderness ratio, which was lower than that of wheat straw and rice straw, and higher runkel ratio and lower flexibility coefficient. Chemical analysis of kaun straw revealed satisfactory levels of α-cellulose content (35.9 %) and klason lignin content (19.3 %). The ash content in kaun straw (7.32 %) showed lower value than that of wheat straw and rice straw. In optimum cooing conditions, kaun straw produced pulp yield of 30.0 % and 41.7 % with kappa number 15.1 and 22.5 in soda-AQ and formic acid pulping processes, respectively, the values of which were lower than that of wheat straw and rice straw.