The effect of stem diameter on the Brassica napus (type: canola) (cultivar: HYHEAR 3) fiber quality

A matured canola plant has different types of stems based on the diameter, such as narrow (immature), medium (mature), and wide (over mature). Therefore, this study was focused on investigating the properties of the extracted canola (HYREAR 3) fibers from 3 different diameter of stems (narrow, medium and wide). The physical (average length, aspect ratio, contact angle, and moisture regain) and mechanical (load at break, elongation at break, tensile stress, young’s modulus, and tenacity) properties of fibers were measured. ANOVA showed that stem diameter had effects on all fiber properties except for average length and elongation at break. Fiber diameter also had significant effects on load at break, elongation at break, aspect ratio, tensile stress, and young’s modulus. In corrgram, it was found that tensile stress, young’s modulus, and aspect ratio were negatively correlated to fiber diameter whereas load at break and tenacity were positively associated. Mean values showed that stem diameter had effects on all fiber properties except for average length. The mean values of fiber diameter, load at break, elongation at break, tenacity, and contact angle were highest and the lowest mean values were observed for tensile stress, young’s modulus and aspect ratio in fibers of 7 - 10 mm stems (medium matured), hence found to be less stiff. Moisture regain ability showed that canola fibers isolated from ≥8 mm stem diameter were more hydrophobic whereas contact angle measurement showed relatively more hydrophobic nature of 7 - 10 mm stem fibers. Therefore, this study provided an insightful understanding of the quality of the canola fibers of different stems which will ultimately help to choose the best stem to extract different qualities of fibers for commercial uses.