> Cass and Douglas,
>
> > > Warning: peeling all those luffas is a lot of work.
> >
> > We have a lot of hands, so if the market is there it'll get
> > done. Thanks for the tips. Anything further?
>
> I have no experience producing luffas, but for many of the wet-seeded
> vegetables, the seeds are cleaned and recovered by retting, letting the
> fruit soak and ferment to free the seeds from pectic materials. Some
> fiber crops such as flax are also retted, to help separate the fiber
> from the soft parts. Could luffa fiber be recovered by retting to avoid
> the drying and peeling steps?
>
> Dale
This may be feasible for recovering fiber for industrial use - but I have no
idea which industrialists use luffa fiber in their manufacturing processes,
except that some filter makers do. On the other hand, it sounds to me like
retting might discolor or even decompose the fiber itelf, which would render
it less desirable for the personal (i.e. bath) market. In any case, your
suggestion may be appropriate to some applications and I intend to look into
it. Thanks for the tip.
While I'm still hoping for a concrete marketing lead, all of this helps.
--Douglas M. Hinds Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural A.C. (CeDeCoR) (Center for Community and Rural Development) - (non profit) Cd. Guzman, Jalisco 49000 MEXICO e-mail: dmhinds@acnet.net, dhinds@ucol.mx, cedecor@acnet.net, cedecor@ipnet.com.mx
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