
68 Green Composites from Natural Resources
The mechanical properties of ber are strongly inuenced by many factors, par-
ticularly chemical constituent composition and internal ber structure, which dif-
fer between different parts of a plant as well as different plants. The most efcient
cellulose bers are those with high cellulose content coupled with a low microbril
angle in the range of 7°–12° to the ber axis. Other factors that may affect the ber
properties are maturity, separation processes, and microscopic and molecular defec-
tors (such as pits and nods), soil type, and weather conditions under which they were
grown. The highly or