Investigation of the effect of enzymatic and alkali treatments on the physico-chemical properties of Sambucus ebulus l. plant fiber
Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Mar 21:130968. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.130968. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
The investigation aims to determine the effect of enzymatic and alkali treatments on Sambucus ebulus L. stem fiber. For this purpose, Sambucus ebulus L. stem fibers were treated with alkali, cellulase, and pectinase enzymes. An image processing technique was developed and implemented to calculate the average thicknesses of Sambucus ebulus L. fibers. The thickness of alkali, cellulase and pectinase enzyme treated fibers was determined as 478.62 μm, 808.28 μm and 478.20 μm, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy analysis illustrated that enzymatic and alkali treatments lead to the breakage of fiber structure. Furthermore, enzymatic and alkali treatments induce variations in elemental ingredients. All treatments increased the crystallinity index of Sambucus ebulus L. fiber from 72 % (raw fiber) to 83 % (alkali treated), 75.2 % (cellulase enzyme treated) and 86.3 % (pectinase enzyme treated) due to the hydrolysis of hemicellulose. Fourier transform infrared analysis indicated that there are no significant differences in functional groups. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that enzymatic and alkali treatments improve final degradation temperature of the fiber. Mechanical behaviors of cellulase enzyme-treated fiber decrease compared to raw fiber, while pectinase enzyme and alkali treatment cause to improve mechanical properties. Tensile strength of samples was determined as 76.4 MPa (cellulase enzyme treated fiber), 210 MPa (pectinase enzyme treated fiber) and 240 MPa (alkali treated fiber). Young’s modules of cellulase enzyme, pectinase enzyme and alkali treated fibers were predicted as 5.5 GPa, 13.1 GPa and 16.6 GPa. Elongation at break of samples was calculated as 5.5 % (cellulase enzyme treated fiber), 6.5 % (pectinase enzyme treated fiber) and 6 % (alkali treated fiber). The results suggest that enzymatic and alkali treatments can modify the functional and structural attributes of Sambucus ebulus L. fiber.
PMID:38521324 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.130968