Chemical Composition, Morphological Characteristics, and Cell Wall Structure of Malaysian Oil Palm Fibers

This article deals with the determination of chemical composition and the study of morphological and cell wall structure of oil palm fibers. Cellulose is the main constituent in oil palm fibers, and oil palm trunk (OPT) fiber exhibited the highest content of extractives and lignin. Fiber morphological determination also showed that OPT fibers have the highest fiber length, diameter, and cell wall thickness. Observations of fiber cell wall layers using transmisson electron microscopy at ultrastructure level confirmed that cell wall layers of oil palm fiber have a structure similar to that of wood cell wall. Analysis also focused on the determination of lignin distribution within the cell wall layers using toluidine blue. In all fiber samples, the middle lamella appeared to demonstrate a higher level of lignification compared to that of other cells.