Abacá

Abacá (/ɑːbəˈkɑː/ ah-bə-KAH; Filipino: Abaka [ɐbɐˈka]), binomial name Musa textilis, is a type of banana. It is native to the Philippines.^[1] It is grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. The plant, also known as Manila hemp.^[1] It is very important to the economy. It is harvested for its fiber, also called Manila hemp, extracted from the leaf-stems.^[2]

The plant grows to 13–22 feet (4.0–6.7 m), and averages about 12 feet (3.7 m). The fiber was originally used for making twines and ropes. It is used in a variety of paper products including tea bags, filter paper and banknotes.^[3]

Abacá Media

Abacá fiber drying in abaca farm, Costa Rica
The Banton Burial Cloth (c. 1200-1400 AD), the oldest existing example of warp ikat in Southeast Asia at the National Museum of the Philippines). The cloth was found in the sacred Ipot cave of Romblon. It is made from abacá.
Abacá Fiber in Lagonoy, Camarines Sur, Philippines
Mats made from woven abacá fibers from the Philippines
The traditional t'nalak cloth of the T'boli dreamweavers are made from abacá fibers
A T'boli dreamweaver using a traditional loom
Manila hawser is examined for defects at Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York, circa 1941
1. Abacá plants have several stalks which can be harvested annually and regenerate fully within a year.
2. Abacá plants are harvested by “topping”, cutting the leaves with a bamboo sickle, cutting or “tumbling” the stalks. The leaves are compost on the ground, creating a fertiliser.
3. The tuxy, the outer layer of the leaf sheath contains primary fibres is separated from the inner layers.