Extracción de fibras de agave para elaborar papel y artesanías

Abstract

Applied research for the sustainable integral use of regional native plants, which was extracted fiber from six species of Agave (common name maguey), three narrow-leaved (A. lechuguilla, A. angustifolia and A. tequilana) and three wide-leaved (A. americana, A. salmiana and A. mapisaga) by using three methods: 1) cooking of pads), 2) fermentation with and without aguamiel (maguey sweet juice) and 3) immersion in water open sky. By considering the variables color, odor, softness, enguiche, easiness of defibration and time spent. In conclusion, most practical treatment was the boiling of the fleshy leaves, but not the most economical and environmentally friendly one. The results got up to this stage indicate that paper can be obtained from each of the six species and that it shows characteristic features which make it attractive to be applied in various craft uses. In particular, the species pro­ducing the most paper with the best quality, i.e., for writing and drawing, were A. salmiana and A. mapisaga.