Isolation of Cellulose Fiber from Water Hyacinth
(Eichornia crassipes) by Bleaching-Alkalination
Method
Nur Hidayah
[1]
, Ikna Urwatul Wusko
2
{nurhidayah@unism.ac.id
1
, iknaurwatulwusko@unism.ac.id
2
}
1
Department of Information System, Faculty of Sains and Technology, Sari Mulia University,
Banjarmasin, Kalimantan Selatan,
2
Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Sains and
Technology, Sari Mulia University, Banjarmasin, Kalimantan Selatan
Abstract. The growth of water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) as weeds of floating aquatic
plants occurs so fast that it is often regarded as waste. Water hyacinth that develops rapidly
in the aquatic environment can cause environmental damage and can be one of the factors
causing floods. Behind the negative assumption that water hyacinth is a plant that is rich
in natural fiber content, namely cellulose. This study aims to characterize the content in
water hyacinth and cellulose fiber insulation using an alkali method. By using SNI 01
2891.1992 as a characterization procedure, values of water content, fat content, crude fiber
content, ash content, protein content and carbohydrate content for water hyacinth plants in
Banjarmasin waters were respectively. While cellulose fiber insulation results by 53,45%,
lignin 24,43% and hemicellulose 22,12%.
Keywords: Please list your keywords in this section.
1 Introduction
Water hyacinth is a weed plant that belongs to the family Pontederiaceae. Water hyacinth
has thick oval-shaped leaves with a fresh green color and shiny when exposed to sunlight [1].
The leaves are supported by cylindrical stems extending to lengths up to 1 meter and 1-2 cm in
diameter [2]. The water hyacinth stalk has strong, weak fibers and contains a lot of water. Water
hyacinth can live free floating on the surface of the water and rooted in the bottom of a pond or
swamp with shallow water [3]. Nutrition for its development is obtained by sucking water and
vaporizing it back through the leaves of plants exposed to the sun through the evaporation
process. So to be able to grow water hyacinth is very dependent on the presence of sunlight and
the availability of water [4].
NS-UNISM 2019, November 23, Banjarmasin, Indonesia
Copyright © 2020 EAI
DOI 10.4108/eai.23-11-2019.2298330