Preservation of bagasse through biotech approach for pulp and paper industry

Abstract

Bagasse, a by-product of sugarcane industry, has potential to serve as a source of cellulosic fibre for paper making. For its consumption throughout the year, bagasse needs to be preserved for at least 6-8 months. The use of chemicals for preservation of bagasse has been found unsafe in practice, hazardous for health and polluter of ecosystem. An attempt has been made to preserve bagasse through biotechnological approaches. For this purpose, bagasse was exposed to three plant<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family: " times="" new="" roman";color:#040404"=""> derived, anti-microbial powders, individually and cumulatively, with and without organic acid producing bacteria. The exposed bagasse was preserved for 6 months, under ambient conditions mimicking the storage in paper mills. Subsequently, it was subjected to physical, chemical and microbiological examination to evaluate the effect of each preservative. It was observed that neem leaf powder exposure in conjunction with acid producing bacteria afforded maximum preservative effect on bagasse, as it retained necessary characteristics desired for good quality pulp making.

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