11/23/23

Dear Muralishwara,

I'm not sure what you are trying to do. Are you trying to break down natural fibers to release their components or use the breakdown products as feedstocks for other purposes?

The use of enzymes is a good approach. Before you proceed, you need to have some idea of the composition of the fibers. This will guide your selection of the enzyme(s) needed to break down them down. Assuming they are plant fibers, these usually consist of polymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose, pectins and possibly mannans and/or galacto-mannans. A good source of enzymes to break down such polymers are Novozymes and Genencor. There are other sources of industrial enzymes as well. You can look them up on the internet to find out what enzymes they produce and how to use them.

I have worked with Novozymes and Genencor in the past. You can try contacting them. On the occasions when I worked with them, they sent me trial samples of their enzymes (100-500 mL) without charge for test purposes. Other enzyme suppliers may do this, too, so you can save some money.

I hope this information helps you. Good luck w/ your research.

Bill Colonna

Dept. Food Science & Human Nutrition'

Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA

[email protected]

W.J. Colonna My natural fiber is Pineapple Leaf Fiber. I need to remove lignin and other waxy substances from the surface of the fiber to enhance its interfacial adhesion with epoxy matrix and also to make it hydrophobic.

Muralishwara Kakunje check organic chemicals to reduce lignin content.