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Jute (/dʒuːt/JOOT) is a long, rough, shinybast fibre that can bespun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced fromflowering plants in the genusCorchorus, of the mallow familyMalvaceae. The primary source of the fiber isCorchorus olitorius, but such fiber is considered inferior to that derived fromCorchorus capsularis.[1]
Jute fibers, composed primarily ofcellulose andlignin, are collected from bast (thephloem of the plant, sometimes called the "skin"). The industrial term for jute fiber israw jute. The fibers are off-white to brown and range from 1–4 meters (3.3–13.1 ft) long. In Bangladesh, jute is called the "golden fiber" for its color and monetary value.[2]
The bulk of thejute trade is centered inSouth Asia, with India and Bangladesh as the primary producers. The majority of jute is used for durable andsustainable packaging, such as burlap sacks. Its production and usage declined asdisposable plastic packaging became common, but this trend has begun to reverse as merchants and even nations phase out orban single-use plastics.[3][4]
The jute plant needs plainalluvial soil and standing water. During themonsoon season, the monsoon climate offers a warm and wet environment which is suitable for growing jute. Temperatures from 20 to 40 °C (68 to 104 °F) and relativehumidity of 70%–80% are favorable for successful cultivation. Jute requires 5–8 cm (2.0–3.1 in) of rainfall weekly, and more during thesowing time.Soft water is necessary for jute production.
Historical documents (includingAin-e-Akbari byAbu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak in 1590) state that the poor villagers in India once wore clothing made of jute. Theweavers used simple hand-spinning wheels andhandlooms, which were also employed to spin cotton yarns. Historical evidence further suggests that Indians—especially Bengalis—used ropes and twines made of white jute since ancient times for household and other purposes. Jute has long been valued for carrying grains and other agricultural products.
Tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius) is a variety thought to be native toSouth Asia. It is grown for both fiber and culinary purposes. People use the leaves as an ingredient in amucilaginouspotherb called "molokhiya" (ملوخية, of uncertain etymology), which is mainly used in someArabic countries such as Egypt, Jordan, and Syria as a soup-based dish, sometimes with meat over rice or lentils. TheKing James translation of theBook of Job (chapter 30, verse 4), in theHebrew Bible, mistranslates the wordמלוחmaluaḥ, which meansAtriplex as "mallow", which in turn has led some to identify this jute species as that what was meant by the translators, and led it to be called 'Jew's mallow' in English.[5] It is high in protein,vitamin C,beta-carotene, calcium, and iron.
Bangladesh and other countries inSoutheast Asia, and theSouth Pacific mainly use jute for its fiber. Tossa jute fiber is softer, silkier, and stronger than white jute. This variety shows good sustainability in theGanges Delta climate. Along with white jute, tossa jute has also been cultivated in the soil ofBengal where has been known aspaat since the start of the 19th century. Coremantel, Bangladesh, is the largest global producer of the tossa jute variety. In India, West Bengal is the largest producer of jute.
Jute has been used for makingtextiles in theIndus valley civilization since the 3rd millennium BC.[6]
For centuries, jute has been a part of the culture of Bangladesh and some parts ofWest Bengal andAssam. The British startedtrading in jute during the seventeenth century. During the reign of theBritish Empire, jute was also used in themilitary. British jute barons grew rich by processing jute and selling manufactured products made from it. Dundee Jute Barons and theBritish East India Company set up many jute mills in Bengal, and by 1895 jute industries in Bengal overtook the Scottish jute trade. Many Scots emigrated to Bengal to set up jute factories. More than a billion jute sandbags were exported from Bengal to the trenches ofWorld War I, and to the American South for bagging cotton. It was used in multiple industries, including the fishing, construction, art, and arms industries.
Due to its coarse and tough texture, jute could initially only be processed by hand, until someone inDundee discovered that treating it withwhale oil made it machine processable.[7] The industry boomed throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries ("jute weaver" was a recognized trade occupation in the 1901UK census), but this trade largely ceased by about 1970, being substituted for bysynthetic fibres. In the 21st century, jute has become a large export again, mainly in Bangladesh.
The jute fiber comes from thestem and ribbon (outer skin) of the jute plant. The fibers are first extracted by retting, a process in which jute stems are bundled together and immersed in slow running water. There are two types of retting: stem and ribbon.[clarification needed] After the retting process, stripping begins. In the stripping process, workers scrape off non-fibrous matter, then dig in and grab the fibers from within the jute stem.[8][clarification needed]
Jute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or pesticides, in contrast to cotton's heavy requirements.[citation needed][9] Production in India is concentrated mostly inWest Bengal.[10] India is the world's largest producer of jute,[11][12] but imported approximately 162,000 tonnes[13] of raw fiber and 175,000 tonnes[14] of jute products in 2011. India, Pakistan, and China import significant quantities of jute fiber and products from Bangladesh, as do the United Kingdom, Japan, United States, France, Spain, Ivory Coast, Germany and Brazil. Jute and jute products formerly held the top position among Bangladesh's most exported goods, although now they stand second afterready-made apparel.[15] Annually, Bangladesh produces 7 to 8 million bales of raw jute, out of which 0.6 to 0.8 million bales are exported to international markets. China, India, and Pakistan are the primary importers of Bangladeshi raw jute.
| Country | Production (Tonnes) |
|---|---|
 India | 1,807,264 |
 Bangladesh | 804,520 |
 China | 36,510 |
 Uzbekistan | 19,122 |
 Nepal | 10,165 |
 South Sudan | 3,677 |
 Zimbabwe | 2,656 |
 Egypt | 2,276 |
 Brazil | 1,185 |
 Bhutan | 342 |
| World | 2,688,912 |
In 2002, Bangladesh commissioned a consortium of researchers fromUniversity of Dhaka,Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) and private software firm DataSoft Systems Bangladesh Ltd., in collaboration with the Centre for Chemical Biology,University of Science Malaysia andUniversity of Hawaiʻi, to research different fibers and hybrid fibers of jute. The draftgenome of jute (Corchorus olitorius) was completed.[17]
Jutes are relatively cheap and versatile fiber and have a wide variety of uses incordage and cloth. It is commonly used to make burlap sacks.
The jute plant also has some culinary uses, which are generally focused on the leaves.
Due to its durability and biodegradability, jute matting is used as a temporary solution to prevent flood erosion.
Researchers have also investigated the possibility of using jute andglucose to build aeroplane panels.[18]
Individual jute fibers can range from very fine to very coarse, and the varied fibers are suited for a variety of uses.
The coarser fibers, which are calledjute butts, are used alone or combined with other fibers to make many products:
Finer jute fibers can be processed for use in:
Jute was historically[when?][where?] used in traditional textile machinery[which?] because jute fibers contain cellulose (vegetable fiber) and lignin (wood fiber).[further explanation needed] Later[when?], several industries, such as the automotive, pulp and paper, furniture, and bedding industries, started to use jute and its allied[clarification needed] fibers with their non-woven and composite technology to manufacturenonwoven fabric,technical textiles, and composites.
Jute is used in the manufacture of fabrics, such as Hessian cloth, sacking,scrim, carpet backing cloth (CBC), and canvas. Hessian is lighter than sacking, and it is used for bags, wrappers, wall-coverings, upholstery, and home furnishings. Sacking, which is a fabric made of heavy jute fibers, has its use in the name. CBC made of jute comes in two types: primary and secondary. Primary CBC provides atufting surface, while secondary CBC is bonded onto the primary backing for an overlay. Jute packaging is sometimes used as anenvironmentally friendly substitute for plastic.
Other jute consumer products include floor coverings,high performance technical textiles,geotextiles, and composites. Jute has been used as a home textile due to its anti-static and color- andlight-fast properties, as well as its strength, durability, Ultraviolet protection, sound and heat insulation, and lowthermal conductivity.
Corchous olitorius leaves are used to makemulukhiya, which is sometimes considered the Egyptian national dish, and is also consumed in Cyprus and other Middle Eastern countries. These leaves are an ingredient in stews, typically cooked with lamb or chicken.
In India (West Bengal) and Bangladesh, in theBengali cuisine, the fresh leaves are stir fried and eaten aspath saak bhaja (পাঠ শাক ভাজা) along with a mustard sauce calledkasundi (কাসুন্দি). The leaves are also eaten by makingpakoras (পাঠ পাতার বড়া) with rice flour orGram flour batter.
In Nigeria, leaves ofCorchorus olitorius are prepared in sticky soup calledewedu together with ingredients such as sweet potato, dried small fish, or shrimp.[19] The leaves are rubbed until foamy or sticky before they are added to the soup. Among theYoruba people of Nigeria, the leaves are calledEwedu, and in theHausa-speakingnorthern Nigeria, the leaves are calledturgunuwa orlallo. The cook shreds the jute leaves and adds them to the soup, which generally also contains meat or fish, onions, pepper, and other spices. TheLugbara ofNorthwestern Uganda also eat jute leaves in a soup calledpala bi. Jute is also atotem for Ayivu, one of the Lugbara clans.
In the Philippines, especially inIlocano-dominated areas, this vegetable, which is locally known assaluyot, can be mixed withbitter gourd,bamboo shoots,loofah, or a combination of these ingredients, which have a slimy and slippery texture.
Vietnamese cuisine also use edible jute known asrau đay. It is usually used incanh cooked with crab and loofah.
In Haiti, a dish called "Lalo" is made with jute leaves and other ingredients. One version of Lalo includes lalo with crab and meat (such as pork or beef) served on a bed of rice.
Fabrics made of jute fibers arecarbon neutral and biodegradable, which make jute a candidate material for high performance technical textiles.[8]
As global concern overforest destruction increases, jute may begin to replace wood as a primary pulp ingredient.
![The Coronation gown of Elizabeth II was embroidered with the three emblems of Pakistan: wheat, cotton and jute (embroidered in green silk and golden thread).[20][21]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aQueen_Elizabeth_II_on_her_Coronation_Day.jpg)
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