Chemical composition and fiber properties of pruning residues of some citrus species

Abstract

Citrus trees are pruned at certain periods in order to increase yield, to protect the trees from diseases or to give form to the tree, and thus lignocellulosic residues emerge. These residues are called pruning residues and cannot be used other than burning. There are many species in the citrus family throughout Turkey and it is one of the leading countries in terms of fruit production. In this study, the cell-wall main components, side components and fiber properties of orange (Citrus sinensis), tangerine (Citrus reticulata), lemon (Citrus limon) and grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) wood and bark, which are pruning residues in citrus orchards and evaluated as waste material, were revealed. In chemical analyses, the amount of holocellulose was found to be between 66.45% and 80.82%, the amount of α-cellulose between 41.54% and 55.24%, and the amount of klason lignin between 14.37-19.67%. Solubility values were determined close to each other in wood and bark samples. While the 1% NaOH solubility ranged between 19.38-78.17%, the amount of soluble substances after hexane extraction was found to be between 2.61-8.24 mg/g. Fiber length and width were determined as 0.64-0.77 mm and 13.00-14.90 µm, respectively.

Keywords

• citrus
• pruning residue
• chemical analyses
• fiber properties
• cellulose
• lignin
• turunçgil
• budama artığı
• kimyasal analiz
• lif özellikleri
• selüloz