Abstract

Banana fiber yarn is a natural best fiber derived from the inner bark (or phloem) of banana plants. It is a very eco-friendly material, which also has the advantage of being completely biodegradable. This yarn is also known as banana silk, due to the shiny and silky aspect of the most precious fibers, or Musa yarn, from the Musa genre to which the banana plant belongs. The study will focus on the Development and Acceptability of Banana (Esp. Damilig-Musa Acuminata) Fiber as Alternative Source of Natural Fabric. The panel of experts will evaluate the following namely: DOST personnel, Garments instructor, fashion designer/ textile experts and Faculty and garments fashion and design students of Isabela State University – Ilagan Campus. The purpose of this research is to develop and test the effectiveness of banana (Damilig-musa acuminata), specifically its pseudo-stem. The researcher aims to unlock the following queries: 1. What are the processes used in the production of yarn? 2. What will be the outcome of the develop banana (Damilig-musa acuminata) after the process of fiber extraction in terms of texture, appearance and durability. 3. What will be the assessment and acceptability of the banana yarn (Damilig-musa acuminata) after weaving process is completed in terms of colorfastness, crease resistant and fabric shrinkage The descriptive type of research will applied in the study with the set of survey questionnaire as the main instrument in gathering data. The weighted mean will also utilizes to determine the general acceptability of the study. The study will use the five-point Likert rating scale. The process will conduct in accordance to Development and Acceptability of Banana (Esp. Damilig-Musa Acuminata) Fiber as Alternative Source of Natural Fabric. The procedures are harvesting, peeling, retting, and sun drying, grouping, spinning and weaving. Evaluation results will show that the project obtained an overall mean of 4.38 to the development of fiber and 3.45 to the level of acceptability of fabric which means that the Development and Acceptability of Banana (Esp. Damilig-Musa Acuminata) Fiber as Alternative Source of Natural Fabric is Moderately Acceptable to the panel of experts based on the criteria checklist. Based on the results of the experiments, it can be concluded that banana fibers can be used as an alternative source of natural fibers because they have several inherent advantages over cotton fiber. Because of the abundance of raw material in nature each year, banana fiber-based yarns and fabrics are less expensive and more sustainable. Because of the low fiber weight and strength loss, softening banana fibers by boiling in distilled water was found to be a better treatment.

KEYWORDS:

Agro-based fibers, banana fibers, banana pseudo-stem, biodegradable, cellulosic, decorticator, environmentally friendly, Musa, natural fiber, renewable fiber, retting, sustainable

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