The technological characteristics of five bast plants were determined mainly to establish a new methodology for textile and cellulosic fibers determinations. The studied species (Crotalaria juncea, Hibiscus cannabinus, Corchorus capsularis, Urena lobatta and Boehmeria nivea) were collected in 1987, from experiments carried out at the Experiment Center of Campinas, and Experiment Station of Pariquera-Açu, Instituto Agronômico, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The results showed technological differences among species. The Crotalaria stalks with the lowest bast contents (19.65%), presented the highest value for the total cellulosic fibers (54.84%) obtained from the bast and woody fraction of the stalk. The bast content for other species varied from 30.74 to 41.13% and the total fibers from 39.46 to 48.38%. The methods of analysis utilized and described in this paper, represent a new methodology for the quantitative determination of textile and cellulosic fibers.
non-wood; textile and cellulosic fibers; determination methods