Abstract
The bast fiber of Paper mulberry has been generally used as a fibrous raw material in traditional Hanji-making. Nowadays, its uses is expanded to different special purposes such as paper mulberry yarn, laminated paper, antimicrobial paper depending on its application. Despite the wide array of the use of mulberry fibers, it is still limited due to some difficulties in the automation process of manufacturing works. This study is focused on the analysis of chemical components and morphological properties of paper mulberry bark for the automation of bark peeling process. The bast tissue of paper mulberry was separated in three plies; black outer layer, green inner layer, and white inner layer. The total lignin content, holocelluloses, extractives and ashes, and the anatomical structure of the three layers in mulberry bark tissue were investigated. The analysis showed that the black outer layer is composed of about 50% of total lignin content, whereas the white inner layer is composed of about 90% of holocellulose content.