PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE bioresources.com Pereira et al. (2014). “Banana fibers composition,” BioResources 9(4), 7749-7763. 7749 Banana (Musa sp. cv. Pacovan) Pseudostem Fibers are Composed of Varying Lignocellulosic Composition throughout the Diameter André Luís S. Pereira, a Diego M. do Nascimento, b Men de Sá M. Souza, c Ana Ribeiro Cassales, c João Paulo Saraiva Morais, d Regina C. M. de Paula, b Morsyleide de F. Rosa, c, * and Judith P. A. Feitosa b Agricultural residues represent a disposal problem and a biomass source for chemical production. Lignocellulosic composition varies in plants as a function of several factors such as physiological age and tissue function. Banana pseudostem is a large biomass resource that is usually wasted, in spite of the possibility that it can be used as a source of organic compounds such as cellulose and hemicelluloses. The aim of this paper is compare the lignocellulosic content and physicochemical properties of different sheaths of Pacovan banana pseudostems. The trunk was divided into four different fractions, from the outermost sheaths to the core of the structure. There was a significant difference between the lignocellulosic compositions of the fractions. The X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry measurements reflected this difference in the sheaths. These results indicate that the Pacovan banana pseudostem cannot be considered to be a uniform biomass, and future approaches to its use as a biorefinery feedstock must consider a preliminary separation of the sheaths prior to chemical extraction of organic components. Keywords: Agribusiness; Biorefinery; Fractionation; Agriculture wastes; Byproducts; Pulping; Cellulose Contact information: a: Engenharia e Ciência dos Materiais, Centro de Tecnologia, Campus do Pici, Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Bloco 714, CEP 60455-900, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil; b: Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Centro de Ciências, Campus do Pici, Departamento de Química Orgânica e Inorgânica, Bloco 940, CEP 60455-760, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil; c: Embrapa Agroindústria Tropical – CNPAT, Rua Dra Sara Mesquita 2270, Planalto do Pici, CEP 60511-110, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil; d: Embrapa Algodão – CNPA, Rua Oswaldo Cruz 1143, Centenário, CEP 58428-095, Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil; *Corresponding author: morsyleide.rosa@embrapa.br INTRODUCTION Agricultural residues represent a disposal problem because they can lead to environmental pollution and biomass spoilage. Some of these residues are composed of plant waste fibers, an abundant, low cost, and readily available source of lignocellulosic biomass (Oliveira et al. 2007). Many agricultural crops are cultivated in Brazil because of the large area of farmland, fertile soil, and adequate climate conditions. Cotton, sugarcane bagasse, coconut, jute, pineapple, ramie, sisal, and banana are conventional fiber resources in Brazil (Satyanarayana et al. 2007). Brazil produced ~7 million tons of bananas in 2011. Together with India, China, the Philippines, and Ecuador, it was one of the five largest producers of banana in 2011 (FAOStat 2014). After harvesting the fruit in bunches, around 6.6 million tons of banana biomass are produced (Satyanarayana et al. 2007). This biomass is usually left on the