Agricultural and Biological Research

Suitability of Acacia decurrence fiber morphology for pulp and paper making in Ethiopia

Lamesa Abara* and Daniel Gebeyehu

The objective of this study was to investigate the fiber properties of Acacia deccurens as an alternative raw material quality evaluation for pulp and paper production. Trees from an even aged stand with a similar stem diameter class were selected randomly. Wood discs were cross cut systematically from a log at the bottom (10%), middle (50%), and top (90%) position along the merchantable height, as well as a block of wood (2 cm × 2 cm × 2 cm), was taken from pith to periphery: at near pith (10%), middle (50%), and near bark (90%) of disk radius. Fiber properties were determined, and their change with tree height and distance from the pith to the bark were evaluated. The fiber length, fiber width, lumen diameter, and cell wall thickness were measured while the derived fiber values were computed from the measured fiber dimensions. All the data were analyzed using a two way analysis of variance. The results showed that the overall means were 1.37 mm, 39.60 μm, 9.68 μm, 1.93 μm, 0.39, 35.38, 24.82, and 0.09 for fiber length, fiber width, lumen diameter, cell wall thickness, runkle ratio, slenderness ratio, flexibility coefficient, and wall coverage ratio, respectively. A. deccurens was found to fulfill most of the derived fiber values for pulp and paper production, as any part of the tree portion along tree heights and from the pith to the periphery can be utilized for pulp and paper production.