Fibers

Introduction of plant product
Pharmacognosy-1
By-Dhammadip Nandgaye
M-pharm

 Study of biological source, chemical nature and uses of drugs
of natural origin containing following drugs.
• Cotton,
• Jute,
• Hemp

Fibers
Fibres, used in surgical dressings, are obtained from plant, animal or are
man-made
Vegetable fibres and regenerated cellulosic fibres:
They are cellulosic, therefore they can be distinguished from animal fibres
by the following tests:
1. Molisch’s test (with α-napthol and H2SO4) give Violet colour.
2. With chlor-zinc iodine or Iodine and H2SO4 give Blue colour.
3. When ignited No foul smell. Lipids (waxes, fats, fixed oils)
Animal fibres:
They can be distinguished from vegetable fibres by the following tests:
1. When ignited give Unpleasant smell.
2. In 5% KOH give Soluble.
3. With Picric acid give Stained permanently (Yellow colour)
4. With Millon’s reagent give Yellow colour
.

Cotton
Types of Cotton:
1.Raw Cotton e.g Cotton wool)and and
2.Absorbent Cotton.
Raw Cotton
Biological source: The hairs covering the seeds of various species of
Gossypium particularly Gossypium herbaceum Linn. and their hybrids.
Family : Malvaceae
G. S. : USA, Egypt, India, South America

Cultivation
• Plants are herbaceous or woody according to the species.
• In warm climates, the plant is perennial, but it is always
grown as annual due to its susceptibility to attack by insects.
• Soil: Sands and loams (rich alluvial deposits)
• Seeds are sown in rows 3 to 5 ft. apart.
• Seedling are thinned out from 1 to 2 ft. apart .
• Manure: Initially nitrogenous, and later on phosphatic.
• The Plant after flowering, bears fruits known as Capsules or
“bolls”.

Collection & Preparation
• After ripening, the fruits dehisce by 3 to 5 valves, exposing the seed which
are covered with the trichomes.
• These are collected, dried & transferred to a “gin”, where the trichomes are
separated from the seeds.
• The felted “lint” is made into bales by hydraulic pressure. Preparation of
cotton for surgical use:
• Absorbent cotton wool is made from cotton waste.
• It is processed to get rid of most of the impurities, followed by boiling with
5% solution of caustic soda for 15 hours at a pressure of 1 to 3 atmospheres.
• It is then washed with water & treated with suitable bleaching agent.
• It is further washed with water, and treated with dil. HCl and again washed
with water
• Then, it is dried & carded into Flat sheets and finally packed.

Morphological Characters
• Raw Cotton:
It consists of a mass of soft brownish filaments. Each filament may be upto 4 cm
in length and contains many impurities like colouring matter, wax and fatty
material.
• Absorbent cotton:
It is raw cotton which has been freed from seeds, treated with alkali to remove
the fatty cuticle, bleached, washed and separated to produce a fleecy mass of
soft white filaments. It is reasonably free from leaf, shell, fibre, dust and foreign
matter, made from comber waste.
Microscopical Characters
• Each filament consists of flattened, twisted, tubular trichomes.
• The edges are rounded and the thickness of the trichome wall appears as a
thickened margin.
• The apex is rounded and occasionally solid.
• Each trichome consists of a single cell, 2 to 4 cm in length and 15 to 20 μ in
breadth.

Chemical Constituents:
• Raw Cotton: Cellulose (91%), Wax, Oil,Fat (0.4%), Protoplasm and
other cell contents (0.6%) Moisture (7.8%), Ash (0.2%)
• Purified Absorbent Cotton: Almost pure cellulose, Moisture (6 to
7%), Ash (0.1 to 0.3%)
Physical test:
• Absorbency test: 1g of cotton wool, compressed to a volume of about 20
ml and placed tightly by means of forceps on the surface of water at about
20˚C :
Raw cotton Float on surface of water.
Absorbent cotton Sink or becomes saturated within 10 seconds
Identification Test

Chemical tests
1. Moisten few threads of cotton wool with alcohol and mount in water.
Irrigate the preparation with ammoniacal solution of copper oxide
(cuoxam) under high power. Observe the slide
1. Raw Cotton Develops balloon-like swellings separated by ring-
shaped constricting bands formed by the cuticle
2. Absorbent Cotton Swells uniformly and eventually dissolve
2. When the trichomes of raw cotton are soaked in aqueous ruthenium red
(8 mg in 100 ml), the excess of reagent removed and cuoxam added, the
cuticle is stained red and can be seen shrinking back to form constricting
bands, while the inner layers of wall swell to form globular
enlargements. This indicates that the cutin is distributed throughout the
primary wall which contains pectin substances.

Cont…….
3. Soak a few threads in iodine water for few minutes. Remove excess
fluid and add 66% v/v H2SO4. Cotton is stained blue (due to presence
of cellulose).
4. Boil a few threads of cotton wool in water for 1 minute. Transfer to
cold, fresh Shirlastain A and stir for 1 minute. Wash thoroughly with water
and dry. Observe the resulting staining of the cotton. Raw cotton Pale
dusty purple. Absorbent cotton Lilac colour (light purple).

Uses:
• Pharmaceutically, as a filtering medium.
• In surgical dressings.
• As an insulating material.
• Absorbent Cotton absorbs blood, mucus, pus and prevents wounds from
infections by bacteria.
Storage:
• It should be stored in cool, at a moisture content below 9%.
• Heat renders absorbent cotton non-absorbent.
• Absorbent cotton should be wrapped in papers so as to prevent the dust
and microbial contamination

Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre which can be spun into coarse,
strong threads.After cotton, jute is the most economical natural fibre to be
produced. Industrially. jute fibre is termed as raw jute.
Biological Source:
It is the phloem fibres of the stem of various species of Corchorus
(Corchorus olitorius and Corchorus capsularis Linn.) belonging to the
family Tiliaceae
Geographical Source:
• The jute plants are cultivated in West Bengal, in the basins of Ganges and
in Assam.
• They grow abundantly in areas having loamy alluvial soil with pH values
of 6 to 8.

Cultivation and Collection
• Jute is a rainy season crop sown in the months of March to May depending on the
amount of rainfall and types of land .
• Harvesting is done from June to September depending on whether the seeds
• were sown early or late.
• A warm and humid climate with temperature ranging between 24-37°C is preferred.
Constant rain or water-logging areas are not ideal for its growth.
• Sowing of jute in madlands and highlands is started with showers in March or April
and Continue till early June in the western part of the jute belt.
• Farm yard Manure,phosphorus.
• potash, and nitrogen fertilizers are used.
• Inter-culturing is done in the early stage.
• Harvesting of jute is done any time between 120-150 days when the flowers have
shed.
• Early Harvesting gives food healthy fibres. Around, 8-12 feet high plants are cut at
or close the ground level using sickles.
• In flooded land, plants are uprooted. The harvested plants are left in the field for 3
days under leaves shed.
• Thereafter the stems are packed in bundle for steeping in water which should be
carried out immediately after harvesting.

Organoleptic Properties
Jute fibres have the following organoleptic properties:
1) Jute Fibres: Off-white to brown coloured and 1-4m (3-12 feet) long.
2) Jute Plants: 2-4m high annual herbs, usually un-branched. or only a few e
branches are present.
3) Leaves: Alternate, simple, lanceolate, 5-15cm long and have a finely
serrated or Lobed margin
4) Flowers:Small,yellow colored, 1.5-3 cm in diameter, and have 5 petals
5) Fruits: Enclose many seeds within a capsule

Microscopic Properties
• A Thin transverse section of a jute strand is treated with phloroglucinol and
HCL.
• The Strands attain deep red color indicating the presence of lignin.
• Each strand consist of polygonal cells surrounded by the variably sized lumen.
• These strands can be separated by treatment with potassium chloride and
nitric acid mixture.
Chemical Nature
• Jute fibre consist of cellulose (50-53%), hemicellulose (nearly 20%), and
lignin (10-11%),fats,wax and Ash(1% of each )are present.
• Other constituents like moisture (not more than 12-13 %), fats, wax, and ash
are preasnt.

Identification Tests
Jute fibres can be identified by the following tests
Feeling Test: It is stiff and harsh to the human skin
Burning Test: It does not melt on burning: in fact it barns easily with smell of
paper burning due to the presence of cellulose.
Microscopic Identification
Its microscopic structure consists of a polygonal shaped cross-section and many
ultimate cells of longitudinal view.
Solubility: It dissolves in H2SO4

Uses
Jute has the following uses:
1) It is used for making craft items.
2) It is used for making socks, bags, carpets, curtains, ropes, etc 3) It is used for
making sacks used for storing grains 4) It is used for manufacturing tows (stupa:
wet cloth or sponge charged with medication for external application), padding
splints, filtering and staining medium

Hemp
Synonyms:
Cannabis Indica, Indian hemp, Ganja, Marihuana, Charas.
Biological source:
Hemp fibre is obtained from the bast of the plant Cannabis sativa
Family: Cannabinaceae.
Cultivation
There are broadly three groups of Cannabis varieties being cultivated
today:
• Varieties primarily cultivated for their fibre, characterized by long
stems and little branching, called industrial hemp.
• Varieties grown for seed from which hemp oil is extracted.
• Varieties grown for medicinal or recreational purposes.

Preparation & Morphology
• Fibres are obtained by subjecting the stalks to a series of operations—
including retting, drying, and crushing—and a shaking process
• That completes separation from the woody portion, releasing the long,
fairly straight fibre, or line.
• The fibre strands, usually over 1.8 metres (5.8 feet) long, are made of
individual cylindrical cells with an irregular surface.
• The fibre diameter ranges from 16 to 50 microns.
• The fibre, longer and less flexible, is usually yellowish, greenish, or a dark
brown or gray and, because it is not easily bleached to sufficiently light
shades, is rarely dyed.

Chemical Constituents
• Long, strong and durable, hemp fibres are about 70% cellulose and
contain low levels of lignin (around 8-10%).
• Pectin-2.9% • Fat-Wax-0.9%
• Mineral-1.8%
Uses
• Hemp has been used for centuries to make rope, canvas and paper
• Cloth
• Filter

THANK YOU
Mr. Dhammadip Nandgaye
(M-pharm)
E-mail id :
nandgayedhamma@gmail.com

Fibers

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Fibers

Recently uploaded

Fibers