ABSTRACT
Natural bers originate from animal, vegetable, or mineral sources. Vegetable bers are derived from plants. The basic chemical component in plants is cellulose, and therefore they are also named as cellulosic bers. Cellulose, a brous carbohydrate found in all plants, is the structural component of plant cell walls. It is a polysaccharide made up of repeating 1,4-8-anhydro glucose units connected to each other by eight ether linkages. The bers are usually bound by a natural phenolic polymer, lignin, which also is frequently present in the cell wall of the ber; thus, vegetable bers are also often referred to as lignocellulosic bers, except for cotton, which does not contain lignin.
