7.2.1 Proposal for Industrialization

A prototype model for the industrialization of A. comosus fiber was developed, based on the following principles: (1) it should be adaptable to the A. comosus leaf mor­phology; (2) the scale of production should be no more than 4 kg dried fiber/hour; (3) it should be portable, handled by three people, and transportable in a less than 2,000 cc engine pick up; and (4) it can be operated by staff with low training.

7.2.2 Testing Sites of the Model

The prototype machine was tested in four A. comosus plantations of the variety MD-2, two located in the North region and two in the South Pacific. All of the plan­tations had the same density with 70,000 plants/ha. In each region, the machine was tested with plants from the first crop (11 months old) and from the second crop (18 months old).

Bleaching type Description

The fiber was placed under running water at room temperature until it lost the green coloration given by the chlorophyll The fiber was put into a recipient with 250 ml of a hydrogen peroxide 5 % solution during 5 min. Then the fiber was washed under running water at room temperature

The fiber was introduced into a recipient with 250 ml of a hydrogen peroxide 1 % solution during 5 min. Next, it was washed under running water until the hypochlorite smell was lost