Evaluation of Castor Stems Residue for Cellulose and Lignin Content

Abstract

Castor is an important crop of arid and semi-arid regions of the country. The castor cultivation in India is increasing year after year. In India, Gujarat and Rajasthan are two major states producing more than 80% of total castor production. The castor seeds are crushed or expelled to get castor oil, which is further used to make many important derivatives for industrial purposes. Castor being more remunerative crop to farmers of arid and semi arid region and the adoption of castor cultivation has improved the livelihood of farmers. Due to non-perishable nature of castor seeds, sometimes farmers store castor for long times growing seasons without any reduction in marketable quality of castor seeds. Cellulose is the major component of castor plant and the paper is composed of cellulose fibers. Paper and pulp industry has found suitability of use of sugarcane bagasse as raw material for paper production. Castor GCH-7 hybrid plants attained an average height of 100–110 cm with 25–30 branches. The diameter of main spike branch and sub-spike branches were ranged between 3.0–5.0 cm and 2.0 to 3.0 cm, respectively. The cellulose content was observed to 45.7%. The present study showed that the cellulose content in castor stem was remarkably higher than the other agro waste, therefore have potential to be used in paper industry, which was around 11% more than sugarcane bagasse, 25% more than rice straw and 50% more than wheat straw. In the present study, the lignin content was found 17.2%. The present study showed that the lignin content in castor stem was less than the other agro waste used in paper industry, which was around 30% less than sugarcane bagasse, 40% less than rice straw while 7% more than wheat straw. The ash content of castor samples was observed to 2.3%.