International Journal of Science and Technology Volume 5 No. 1, January, 2016

Investigation of Variations in the Fibre Characteristics of Moringa Oleifera (Lam) Stem for Pulp and Paper Production Ekhuemelo, D.O., and Udo, A. M Department of Forest Production and Products, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT The study assessed fibre characteristics of Moringa oleifera (Lam) stem for pulp and paper production. Samples were collected from three Moringa oleifera trees of ages 1, 3 and 5 years grown in home gardens in Makurdi. Three samples of sapwood and heartwood portions of the stem were taken from top (90%), middle (50%), and base (10%), respectively. The representative samples were chipped and placed in equal volume of glacial acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide in the ratio of 1:1 for maceration; fibre length, fibre diameter, lumen width and cell wall thickness were measured using Reichert Visopan Microscope and morphological indices were calculated. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results show that Fibre length of 1 and 3 years old Moringa oleifera were not significantly different. There was no significant difference between the means of Runkel ratio of 3 and 5 years old Moringa oleifera but differed significantly from 1 year old Moringa oleifera at P