Testing the Use of Coconut Fiber as a Cushioning Material for Transport Packaging

Abstract

In spite of being a raw material of virtually unlimited availability due to the massive consumption of the highly popular coconut water, fiber produced from green coconut is much less used than the dried coconut fiber. The objective of this study was to investigate the performance of green (white) coconut fiber as a cushioning material for use in packaging systems. The mechanical performance of both green coconut fibers in their natural state as well as those molded into the shape of cushioning pads were evaluated by shock absorption tests. The results showed that the fibers without aggluti-nation agents exhibited the best performance when submitted to increasing static loads by presenting the greatest capac-ity to reduce impact acceleration. In addition, green coconut fiber presented behavior similar to that of cellulosic cush-ioning materials and in certain situations can be considered effective in protecting products that are considered fragile.