Microbial degumming of decorticated ramie and its fibre characteristics

Decorticated bast fibres from ramie [ Boehmeria nivea (L) Gaud] have been treated for different time periods using the bacterial and fungal cultures of Bacillus subtilis , bacterial isolates of BCJF 1 and BCJO 1, Curvularia sp. , Aspergillus sp. and their mixed cultures. The residual gum of the fibres decreases to 10.4% and 9.7% after 4 and 6 days treatment respectively with bacterial and fungal strains. Treatment for 1-8 days of ramie bast fibres with crude supernatant of mixed cultures shows a correlation between incubation period and fibre separation. It is observed that the microbial consortium of fungi and bacteria plays an important role in the degradation of residual gum and is found to be more efficient for degumming purpose as compared to single culture treatment. It can be applied in large scale for cost effective fibre production from ramie bark.