Preparation and Characterisation of Carboxymethyl Cellulose and Carboxymethyl Cellulose Hydrogels from Sago Waste

The Sago palm (Metroxylon sago) is an important and relatively untapped resource of polysaccharide with which to undertake economic development for the South-East Asia region (Indonesia, Thailand, Philipines and Vietnam). Presently, in South-East Asia and Oceana (Papua New Guinea and Oceanic Islands) it is estimated that two million hectares of wild stands of sago palm exist compared to 200,000 hectares of cultivated sago palm. The three leading world producers are Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. In Sarawak, Malaysia, sago palms grow well in humid tropical low lands up to an altitude of 700 m. Temperatures above 25 °C and relative air humidity of 70% are favourable for its growth and soil salinity should not exceed 10 S/m, which is equivalent to one-eighth of the salt concentration of sea water (Singhal et al., 2008). A well-attended farm can produce 175 kg of sago starch per palm, giving a total yield of approximately 25 tonnes of sago starch/hectare. The starch, which is produced in about 300 million tonnes/year has industrial uses such as processing monosodium glutamate, glucose and fructose syrups (Suraini, 2002; Pei-Lang et al., 2006). In Malaysia, sago starch ranks fifth highest in term of agricultural revenue after pepper, palm oil, cocoa and rubber. As such, it is a useful commodity for Malaysia. However, the utilization of the sago palm goes further. Sago fiber is used to provide bulk for rumen fermentation, sago pith used as an animal feed stuff and in livestock industry and the sago frond used in pulp and paper industry [...]