Production Process of Pineapple Leaf Fiber Fabric

A FEASIBILITY STUDY ON
INDUSTRIAL STATE

In Partial Fulfilment of the

Requirements for the Course Mechanical Engineering

Presented to
Engr. Rufino O. Rigodon
Faculty of the Department of Engineering
Garcia College of Technology
Kalibo, Aklan

Presented by
Welyn Joy R. Esperidion

April 2022
 Pineapple fibre

The world is moving towards sustainable material for a better future. That is what makes
pineapple fibre important.
The world is moving towards sustainable material for a better life for future generations.
The textile industry's main concern is to give mankind superior, sustainable products that are close
to nature. Pineapple fibre is one such natural source of minor fibre. It has seen rising demand in
the eco market. A detailed study on the source, cultivation, extraction and processing of pineapple
fibres reveals that these fibres can be used as an alternative to leather. This edible fruit that has
medicinal values now finds another avatar in textile applications. The fibres can be extracted from
the leaf as well as the fruit. The study also gives properties and applications of pineapple fibres
towards more sustainable living.
Textile fibres are obtained from the hair, leaf, bast and fruit of a plant. All vegetable fibres
are cellulose-based. Pina fibre is from the leaves of the pineapple plant. Pineapple fibres are
sustainable natural materials and demand for pina is increasing in the go-green market as
technology progresses in using pina as an alternative to existing textiles and leather.
The pineapple belongs to the family of Bromeliaceae (or multiple fruit bearing) plant. The
Ananas Comosus, an edible fruit-bearing plant, is a tropical, herbaceous; perennial that grows in
countries near the equator. India, like the Philippines and Thailand, has the right climate for
pineapples.
Bromelin, a proteolytic enzyme in the stem of the pineapple, has various health benefits. It
is used to cure lung cancer, allergies, asthma, in anti-ageing treatments and for faster recovery
from surgery. Vitamins like A and B are found abundantly in pineapple, along with Vitamin C,
calcium, potassium and iron. Pineapple contains carbohydrates and water, majorly insoluble fibres
not harmful for blood sugar.
Pineapple grows abundantly in regions that receive high rainfall like West Bengal, Assam
and the north-eastern states, the Western Ghats and coastal areas like Goa, Kerala and Karnataka.
Pineapple cultivation in India is majorly seen in the hilly regions of Nagaon and Cachar districts
of Assam, Senapati, Thoubal, Churachandpur, Bishnupur, east Imphal regions of Manipur, west
and north Tripura, Dhalai Tripura. In the south, you would find fields of pineapple in Shimoga,
Udupi and Uttar Canara regions of Karnataka. In Goa, pineapples are cultivated on the hills of
Ponda and in Pernem, Bicholim talukas.

Not one, but four

There are at least four main varieties of pineapple around the world.
1. Smooth Cayenne: The main variety in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, it is
known for succulent, juicy and sweet flesh. It is eaten around the world mostly as fresh cut fruit
or canned.
2. Queen or Queen Victoria: A crunchier and more aromatic variety found in Malaysia,
China, Vietnam and India.
3. White Perola: Originally from Brazil, it is unusually sweet with a strong fragrance and
has pearly white pulp.
4. Giant Kew: Found in India, it is similar to the Kew variety and is grown mainly in West
Bengal. Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam grow the Queen variety. Kerala and Goa coastal regions
are found with the Rothchild pineapple.
The Kew variety is important for its edible and nutritional components and is grown mainly
for canning. The weight of its large fruit varies from 1.5 kg to 3 kg. It is highly juicy with Total
Suspended Solids content 8o to 12o brix. The colour of the juice is light yellow and has
considerable aroma and flavour. This makes it suitable for canning.

As the fibre is indigenous to the tropics, the crop requires areas where the climate is
warm, humid and free from extreme temperatures (25o C is optimal). The pineapple plant grows
in loose or porous, well-drained soil that does not retain water. So, clay and marshy soils are not
right for pineapple plantations whereas the plant enjoys sandy, loamy soil and laterite land tables.
The optimum soil pH range for pineapple cultivation is between 5.5 and 6.0.
Planting time for pineapple is between July and December. The yield depends on the
planting material used. Pineapples are propagated from slips or suckers. The crown is also used
for cultivation, though it takes longer to grow. Growing pineapple from seed is avoided for the
same reason. Suckers are found between leaves of fully grown pineapple plants. Slips are found at
the base of some varieties of pineapple fruit. Propagates should be cut from the mother plant and
set aside for a week or two to cure. If crowns are planted, any adhering flesh should be cut away.
The plants then yields fruit after 22-24 months, though some may take longer.
Slips and suckers weighing around 350 and 450 gm respectively are found best for yielding
good quality Kew pineapples. Mass multiplication of propagation material is vital to bring fresh
area under cultivation. This is possible only when number of plantlets can be obtained from a
single mother plant, unlike few suckers or slips. It has been found possible to use leaf cutting from
the crowns of Kew pineapples for multiplication of planting material.
 Planting needs care. Once soil is prepared, suckers or slips are planted. Enough space
should be given to each plant to encourage it to grow. However, the type of plantation varies
according to region and depending on the topography of the land and on rainfall.
Piña Fiber in the Philippines
The Philippines, is the most capable for production of piña fiber.
Kalibo, Aklan is the main and the oldest manufacturer/weaver of Piña cloth in the
Philippines which are being exported. History records suggest that Kalibo’s Piña cloth was traded
during the Pre-Hispanic times and reached as far as Greece and Egypt during its heyday. Kalibo is
also known for other native products such as handbags made of buri leaves which is a favorite for
Caucasian females visiting the town. Pineapple silk is considered the queen of Philippine fabrics
and is considered the fabric of choice of the Philippine elite. During the 1996 edition of APEC in
the Philippines, world leaders donned a Pineapple silk Barong Tagalog from Kalibo during the
traditional group photo.
Many health conscious people love to have Pineapple as their favorite dessert. It’s because
of many health benefits of the delicious fruit. It protects from a simple flu as well as fights off free
radicals that cause cancer. It cleans the internal system to keep our body healthy through fibers
that help in proper digestion. That’s not all, it’s not the only kind of fiber that a pineapple carries.
Pineapple leaves are used to obtain Piña, a textile fiber that is used to make fabrics. As such, we
are able not only to keep our internal system clean but also to achieve an outer elegant appearance.
Piña is a pineapple fiber made from the leaves of a pineapple plant and is commonly used in the
Philippines. It is sometimes combined with silk or polyester to create a textile fabric. Piña’s name
comes from the Spanish word piña which literally means pineapple
Pineapple is mainly grown in sub-tropic countries including Philippines, Taiwan, Brazil,
Hawaii, India, Indonesia and the West Indies. Pineapple has been produced well amount in
Bangladesh also. And the country has good potential in producing pineapple fiber and
corresponding products. However the credit for making textile fibers from pineapple leaves go to
the Philippines. Pina weaving is an age old tradition dating back to Hispanic times. Pina clothes
were said to have reached Greece and African countries many centuries ago. During 19th century,
pina fabric was much in demand, not only in Philippines but worldwide. However, when the much
cheaper cotton fabrics became popular, its production ceased and Pina fabric almost disappeared.
Till the mid eighties of 20th century, pina fiber was nearly impossible to find with only a handful
of aging, part time weavers working for its survival. In fact, Pina has been revived in the recent
past two decades only.
Great efforts were made for the revival of this age old tradition and for re-establishing the
pina trade. It started with marketing of pina barong [embroidered traditional garment of
Philippines] locally which eventually got popular with the elite. Traditional pina weaving has
survived in spite of all odds and production has since begun to flourish. Now once again, pina
fiber is globally popular and Pina cloths from the Philippines are being exported to various parts
of the world, particularly to North America and Europe.

Production of Pineapple Fiber

Since piña is from a leaf, the leaf is cut first from the plant. Then the fiber is pulled or split
away from the leaf. Most leaf fibers are long and somewhat stiff. Each strand of the Piña fiber is
hand scraped and is knotted one by one to form a continuous filament to be hand-woven and then
made into a Piña cloth. Researchers have developed some easy tools to extract fiber from pineapple
leaves.
Fiber from Pineapple leaves for long has been used by Philippine handicraft artisans to
produce cloth. Pineapple fibre is considered to be more delicate in texture than any other vegetal
fibre. A kilo of leaves may provide up to 15-18 pieces of white, creamy and lustrous as silk fibre
about 60 cm long and it easily retains dyes.

Extraction and processing:

 After harvesting, most growers use the leaves for production of fibre. India, however,
is lagging in this regard. As per Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority of India, there is a sizeable increase in area of land under pineapple cultivation, and
pineapple production in recent years. There has been an increase from 87 thousand hectare in 2006-
07 to 89 thousand hectare in 2010-11. Production has increased from 1,362 thousand tons in 2006-
07 to 1,415 thousand tons in 2010-11.
The fruit enjoys a sizeable market locally and a major chunk is exported to the Gulf market.

Pineapple leaves are long and have a wax coating on the surface. The leaves are washed
and cleaned and put through the decortication process. This is done manually or on the decorticator
machine. Decortication is the removal of the outer layer of the leaf, or scraping. The exposed
fibrous matter is gummy and goes through the next step of retting or immersion of the scraped
matter in water. To this water, 0.5 per cent of urea is added for fast retting reaction. Extracted
fibres are then hung out to dry. Then, they are spent for spinning.

.
 The major source of the silky pineapple fibres are the long leaves of the pineapple plant.
The staple fibre length varies from 0.5-1 metre. Plants producing the best fibres can never yield
the best fruits, and vice versa.
Pineapples are rich in lignin and cellulose. Only 52 per cent of the fruit is used for edible
purposes and for making jams, while the remainder is dumped as organic waste. The discarded
part of the fruit contains rich cellulose and lignin that are generally wasted. The fibre can however
be extracted from the discarded portion of the fruit and can be used for making fabrics. Fibres
extracted from the waste of pineapple fruits are blended with polyester or silk to make organic
fabrics with a silky texture.

It is a painstaking process and involves up to 30 people from the beginning to the end of
the process. Fibres of the leaf are scrapped by means of a broken plate or coconut shell and a fast
scraper can extract fibre from over 500 leaves per day after which the fibres are washed and dried
in the open air.

After which they are waxed to remove the entanglements and then the fibres are knotted
and bind into yarns for the next process of weaving it in to fabric. Pineapple fabrics are mainly
used for creating Barong Tagalog and other formal wear. It is also used for other products where
a lightweight, but stiff and sheer fabric is needed.

It is sometimes combined with silk or polyester to create a textile fabric.

Aklan Piña Fiber Processing

 The development of ‘vegan’ leather made from pineapple (piña) leaves is considered one
of the greatest eco-friendly material innovations in recent years. Pioneered by Piñatex, a company
led by Dr Carmen Hijosa, and researchers at the Royal College of Art in London, the material has
been used in footwear prototypes by brands including Puma and Camper.
The underlying process, piña weaving, has a much longer history in the Philippines,
particularly in Aklan in the Western Visayas where native pineapple plants have been cultivated
for their fibre for generations. Traditionally worn by the country’s elite and only made by a small
number of women, piña cloth has experienced a resurgence in recent years, partly thanks to its new
applications in the commercial fashion industry.
 The process of piña weaving is completed in five stages. During the first step, pagkigue,
mature pineapple leaves are harvested and stripped of their outer coating by scraping them with a
blunt instrument (for example a coconut shell). Two grades of fibre are extracted from the leaves:
the first, called bastos, is strong and course and usually reserved for making string or twine.
Liniwan, or washout, only lifts away from the leaf after vigorous scraping. It is much finer and
used for weaving fabric. The green epidermal layer is washed away from the fibres, leaving behind
white, opaque threads.
The pagpisi and pagpanug ot stages involve hand-knotting and trimming individual fibres
to create one long, seamless filament. The filament is warped and spun onto spools during
pagtalinuas; when it’s not being manipulated, the loose fibres are mixed with sand to prevent them
from tangling. The final stage of piña weaving, called paghaboe, involves weaving the cloth on an
upright two-treadle loom.
Finished piña fabric is translucent and stiff. It is often mixed with silk or polyester to make
scarves or garments, including the Barong Tagalog, the national dress of the Philippines. Piña cloth
can be finished with traditional Filipina hand embroidery, called calado.

Properties of pineapple fiber

 The piña fiber is softer, and has a high luster, and is usually white or ivory in color. The
end fabric is lightweight, easy to care for and has an elegant appearance similar to linen.
Pineapple fibers are an ivory-white color and naturally glossy. This delicate and dreamy cloth is
translucent, soft and fine with a high luster. Pineapple silk is considered the queen of Philippine
fabrics and is considered the fabric of choice of the Philippine elite.
Pine cloth in Philippine’s islands is soft, durable and resistant to moisture. This is also used
in making coarse grass cloth and for mats, bags and clothing. The leaves need retting, which is
controlled rolling by soaking in water and allowing bacteria to attack the leaves. The fibres are
then separated mechanically by scotching ( beating ).The fibers are bundles of many overlapping
cellulosic cells and are much , stiffer and longer than cotton. The cells adhere by means of lignin
cements.
As the pineapple leaf fiber fabric or the pina fabric is lightweight but stiff, this sheer fabric
can be used in any creative design. These fabrics, apart from environmental friendly, have many
other qualities.
They have beautiful elegant appearance with natural shine, similar to that of linen.
They are lightweight.
They blend very efficiently with other fibers.
They are very soft, even softer than hemp.
They have better texture than silk.
They can be washed and don’t need to be dry cleaned.
As the making process of piña fabric is tedious, time consuming and labor intensive, it
becomes quiet expensive. However, when worn, one can feel the luxury of this exotic fabric and
then its price becomes immaterial. In fact, a garment of piña fabric is categorized as an heirloom
garment.

In a project, pineapple, being a leaf fiber and due to its long length it was used in worsted
spinning. Pineapple fiber was brought from South India. It was blended with polyester tops in the
ratio of polyester/pineapple 80/20. Then fabric was made for suiting purposes. The feel and look
was very good. Pina fiber is often blended with cotton, abaca, and silk to create wonderful light,
breezy fabrics. When woven with silk, it’s called piña seda or piña-silk. Piña jusi is blended with
jusi (abaca or silk) for strength and sheerness and is less expensive than 100% piña .
 Pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) which is rich in cellulose has the potential for polymer
reinforcement.

Bleaching of pineapple fiber is done by Hydrogen peroxide at boil. As per requirement

pineapple fiber is dyed using ME dyes at 60 degree Celsius or HE dyes at 80 degree Celsius.
Where high fastness is required in that case vat dyes are used.

The spinning of pineapple fibers on worsted system. It was carried out as follows.
1. Blender
2. Carding.
3. Combing.
4. Mixing with polyester tops/wool tops./viscose tops.
5. Recombing.
6. Gilling
7. Roving.
8. Ring frame
With this idea the synthetic polyester/viscose spinning mills R&D department should start
working on using pineapple fibers in synthetic/cotton spinning system. It will become a value
added item. It will have good export potential.

Uses of pineapple fibers

Pineapple fibers, primarily used in hand weaving are divided into two groups- the linuan
or fine fibers and bastos or coarse fibers. Red Spanish or native variety of piña is mainly used for
hand weaving to make valuable items such as traditional Barong Tagalog, wedding attire for men,
and blouses for women , kimonos, panuelos, handkerchiefs, table linen, mats, fans, gowns, and
other clothing. The major use of pina fabric is the creation of the Barong Tagalog, a thin and
transparent embroidered garment worn over a shirt and other formal wear in the Philippines. The
smooth Cayenne or Formosa varieties are primarily used in development of Philippine Tropical
Fabrics.
 In recent times pineapple fiber has been used to produce high value added nonwoven to be
used for producing luxury lustrous products.

Pineapple fibre is used to make sustainable and more environmental-friendly products.

Using biotechnological methods, pineapple waste can produce silky, white fibres. They can be
added with other allied fibres for zero waste management, to create improved quality products and
to increase employment opportunities in the rural population.

Pineapple leaf fibres are long and are blended with other fibres in place of jute and other
bast fibres. They are used to make heavier fabrics for upholstery and furnishings. The fibres are
used in industrial applications like tires and conveyor belts. The sturdy and lustrous fibre finds
wide applications from apparel to technical textiles. They are among the latest entrants in the paper
manufacturing industry. With its various vitamins and compounds, it finds use in the
pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries

A major use for piña fabric is in the creation of the Barong Tagalog and other formal wear
that is common in the Philippines. It is also used for other table linens, bags, mats and other
clothing items, or anytime that a lightweight, but stiff and sheer fabric is needed.
The pina fabric is decorated by a traditional style of hand embroidery called calado. An
embroidered piña garment is known as piña calado. These handwoven fabrics are dyed with
vegetable dyes obtained from leaves and bark of various trees. Pina fiber is often blended with
cotton, abaca, and silk to make amazing light and breezy fabrics. When woven with silk, it is
known as pina seda or pina-silk. Pina jusi is a blend of abaca or silk for strength and sheerness and
is less expensive than 100% pina.

Note: The author is the first person to bleach and dye pineapple fibres using vat dyes in
three shades like black, coffee, and navy. Then it was blended with polyester fibre in 80/20 ratio .