Chemical Composition and Pulping of Tunisian Almond and Fig Stems - A Comparison with Tunisian Date Palm Rachis.

In the present paper, the main objectives of this paper are the characterization of two Tunisian cellulosic by-products (almond and fig stems). The first part of this work is devoted to the determination of the chemical composition. Their chemical composition was showed that they present amounts of holocellulose, lignin and cellulose similar to those encountered in Tunisian date palm rachis. In the second part of this paper, the ensuing pulps of almond and fig stems are characterized in terms of degree of polymerization, fiber length and fiber width. These properties were compared to the properties of a Tunisian date palm rachis that was fully characterized by Khiari et al. (2010). Finally, the results of this work clearly demonstrated that almond and fig stems can be considered as a possible alternative source of fibers for cellulose derivatives and/or as lignocellulosic fibers for fiber-reinforced composite materials or papermaking application.