Chapter 3 - Anatomical structure of coir fibers

Abstract

Coir fiber is indigenous to the Asia Pacific region, mainly India and Sri Lanka, where coconut trees are grown in massive quantities and shipped all over the world. Cocos nucifera L., also known as the coconut tree or coconut palm, is one of numerous tropical and subtropical plant species that covers around 10 million hectares of land [1]. The developing world consumes more than half of all coir produced each year [1,2]. Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, and a few Caribbean nations have recently begun to endowed coir on a big scale to the worldwide market [3]. Coir fiber quickly fills the market's growing demand for eco-friendly products. The strength of coir fiber is the fundamental reason for its widespread use. It is a lightweight, soilless growing medium with low decomposition rate [4]. It is entirely renewable, hence an ideal choice for environmental sustainability because it is a naturally occurring substance. The initiative is helping to fuel the expansion of the coir fiber market and Asia Pacific is hoping to boost the production even more by expediting the fiber gathering process to keep up with the demand. Research and development activities are continuing to focus on the use of coir fiber in traditional and advanced applications as the market shows significant prospects. In this context, this chapter briefly presents the anatomical structure of coir fibers in order to understand the characteristics with respect to their physical properties, mechanical properties, chemical constituents, and other properties of coir fiber. The gaps of literature on the anatomical structures and properties of these fibers are underlined. The chapter is divided into three sections: (1) structures and morphology of coir fibers, (2) anatomical characteristics of coir fibers, and (3) effect of treatments on coir fiber anatomical characteristics.