Enzymatic Modification of Hemp Fibres for Sustainable Production of High Quality Materials

Abstract

The main focus of this paper is the influence of processing parameters in enzymatic hemp separation on the fibre quality. The effect of NaOH-, EDTA- and Soda-pre-treatment, and enzymatic treatment with Lyvelin® was determined. The results show that processing parameters from, e.g., flax treatment can not easily be transferred to hemp, since there is a different pectin structure. NaOH treatment with low concentrations has only a very limited effect on fibre quality. In opposite to results known from flax, EDTA treatment has no effect on hemp separation. More successful is fibre pre-treatment by soda even in low concentrations. In addition the soda pre-treatment improves the efficiency of the subsequent enzymatic step.