Advances in industrial prospective of cellulosic macromolecules enriched banana biofibre resources: A review

Biological macromolecules enriched resources are rapidly emerging as sustainable, cost effective and environmental friendly materials for several industrial applications. Among different biological macromolecules enriched resources, banana fibres are one of the unexplored high potential bio-resources. Compared to various natural fibres such as jute, coir, palm etc., the banana fibres exhibits a better tensile strength i.e. 458 MPa with 17.14 GPa tensile modulus. Traditionally used petroleum based synthetic fibres have been proven to be toxic, non-biodegradable and energy intensive for manufacturing. Cellulosic banana fibres are potential engineering materials having considerable scope to be used as an environmental friendly reinforcing element for manufacturing of polymer based green materials. This paper summarizes the world scenario of current production of biological macromolecules rich banana residues and fibres; major user's of banana fibres. The quality and quantity of biological macromolecules especially the cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, wax, engineering and mechanical properties of banana biofibre resources are reported and discussed. Subsequently, the findings of the recent research on bio resource composites, materials performance and opportunities have been discussed which would be a real challenge for the tomorrow world to enhance the livelihood environmental friendly advancement. (c) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.