ISHS Acta Horticulturae 822: VI International Pineapple Symposium
PRODUCTION OF CURAUÁ (ANANAS ERECTIFOLIUS L.B. SMITH) FIBERS FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS: CHARACTERIZATION AND MICROPROPAGATION |
| Authors: | A.L. Leăo, I.S. Machado, S.F. de Souza, L. Soriano |
| Keywords: | Ananas erectifolius L.B. Smith, plant tissue culture, rapid clonal propagation, composites, natural fibers, curauá |
| Abstract:
The world is changing quickly and there is a prediction that we could need options for renewable materials to replace the ones from fossil sources. For energy there are many more alternatives than for materials. Natural fibers play an important role in this context, mainly in tropical countries. In many of these there is lack of new jobs, especially in the rural sector of developing countries, where there already are economically deprived areas, resulting in increasing problems in urban zones, mainly related to waste disposal, pollution and destruction of natural resources. In this context a new concept called ecomenes was developed: the use of natural resources based on an ecological intuition of non linear biological processes. It is placed in between the extrativism – low pressure over natural resources - and the economics – high pressure over the ecosystem, making money at any cost. The resulting approach based on ecomenia relates to processes of low environmental impacts and hence good sustainability. Crop fibers can be an alternative to keep local populations in the regions where they grow these plants, preventing rural exodus. The productive chain for crop fibers can represent as many as five jobs per hectare. South America is a key supplier of natural fibers due to its environmental conditions as well as the traditional uses of native plants in artcraft, medicine and agroindustrial applications. Curauá (Ananas erectifolius L.B. Smith) is a bromeliacea originated from the Brazilian Amazon with great potentiality for fiber production of excellent quality. It is largely used in the automotive industry due its resistance, softness and reduced weight. Moreover, its inflorescence present values for the production of cut-flowers and landscape-gardening. The objective of this work was to develop the curauá production chain for some by-products including fibers, flowers and bromeline enzyme. | |
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