Study of the influence of different enzymatic treatments of flax on fiber composition

Abstract

Dew retting is the traditional and still most used method to degrade flax stem non-cellulosic material in order to separate the fiber, but it has many disadvantages like weather dependence, inconsistent properties and long process time. Enzymatic retting is an attractive alternative which offers faster treatments and uniform properties. Enzymes are very selective and result in cleavage of specific molecules, but to successfully degrade the cementing matrix that glues the fiber to the stem one or more enzymes will be required. Hence, this project analysed the chemical composition (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) of flax fibers treated with different enzymes to evaluate the effect of the treatments on flax fibers