Retting

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Retting is a stage in the manufacturing of vegetable fibers, especially the bast fibers. It is the process of submerging plant stems such as flax, jute, hemp or kenaf in water, and soaking them for a period of time to loosen the fibers from the other components of the stem. Retting can also be done by letting the cut crop stand in the fields in the wet Fall, called "dew retting". Bacterial action attacks pectin and lignin, freeing the cellulose fibres. The stems are then removed and washed and subject to mechanical processing to remove the soft tissue and then dried so that all that remains are the fibres.

See also: Jute cultivation