THE COMPARISON OF FIBER BIOMETRY AND CHEMICAL COMPONENTS OF PHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS FOR PAPERMAKING

In order to evaluate reed as a raw material for wood & paper industries, three main regions of Iran consist of south, North and East were selected for this study. Phragmites australis is dominant species in these regions and this study concentrated on it as well. Chemical components and biometry of fibers were determined with four and thirty replications respectively. Statistical analysis showed that there were no significant differences among three regions in fiber length and lumen diameter but reversely fiber width and cell wall thickness showed significant differences. The highest fiber length mean was 1.39mm. For North (Anzali) Coefficients of papermaking of fibers also were calculated for each region. Biometerical fiber results, showed that P. australis has good fiber compare to the Iranians hardwoods as papermaking. The results also showed that there are significant differences between regions and subregions at %5 level. North had the highest and lowest cellulose and lignin contents respectively. These results also proved that P.australis is one of the best Iranians' raw materials as cellulose and lignin contents between the others.