FIBER QUALITY AND RECOVERY OF THREE ABACA VARIETIES AS AFFECTED BY TUXY GROUP AND SETTING POSITION IN SPINDLE STRIPPING

Abstract

Three abaca varieties (Linawaan, Inosa and Laylay) were evaluated for fiber quality and recovery. Except for stretch percentage, Linawaan variety showed the highest recovery and tensile strength, and the heaviest tuxies and dry fiber recovered per stalk. However, Laylay variety produced more fiber of higher grade than the others. The outer group of leafsheaths produced stronger fibers than the middle and Inner groups, in that order. Middle, Inner and outer groups ranked first, second and third, respectively, in weight of dry fiber per 15 stalks and average weight of tuxies stripped in 5 min. The downward position with the tips of tuxies stripped first produced the highest weight of dry fiber per 15 stalks, while the downward position with butts stripped first appeared to have better quality fiber compared to the rest of the treatments. No significant interaction between group of leafsheaths and different positions of setting tuxies into the spindle was observed.