Extraction, Chemical Characterization, and Eco-friendly Fabrics Manufacturing from Mango Fibers

The textile industry is one of the most important in the world economy; however, it occupies the second place among the most polluting ones. Aiming to palliate its environmental impact, the textile industry has focused on alternative raw materials. One of the implemented strategies is based on the circular economy, promoting the use of wastes from other industries to obtain materials that can be spun or woven. Mango is a tropical fruit used mainly for juice and jam production. During its processing, the peel, the seed, and the fiber are obtained as by-products. The peel has been used to produce pectin for the food industry. On the other hand, the seed and the fiber are lignocellulosic materials from which it is possible to extract cellulose. In this work, it was proposed to produce added-value materials from the fiber, a waste of mango processing industry. The fiber was washed, dried, and characterized, and its content of total lignin was determined to be equal to 12.2%. Furthermore, an experimental design was proposed to determine the main effect of the variable liquid to solid ratio, reaction time, and NaOH concentration on the lignin removal by alkaline hydrolysis. It was found that to achieve 83% of lignin removal, it is necessary to use a NaOH concentration of 10%, a liquid to solid ratio of 30 g/L for six hours. The treated fibers were subjected to a softening process to facilitate their spinning using propylene glycol. Subsequently, the fibers were cleaned, combined, carded, and spun by the Z-twist spinning method in a clockwise direction. These yarns were woven by means of an artisanal weaving method carried out with plain weave pattern, which allowed to obtain a resistant fabric with a rough texture. This fabric has demonstrated potential to be used in bags, shoes, and accessories such as wallets. In this work, it was possible to obtain a woven fabric using mango fiber encouraging the circularity and the revalorization of a waste product in mango processing.