Saba, Lakatan, and Bongolan bananas could be considered
additional or alternative to Cavendish fibers as source of raw
materials for textile manufacture. In the study conducted by a
senior science research specialist at the Philippine Textile
Research Institute (PTRI) on the potential of fibers from the
trunks of six banana cultivars—Saba, Lakatan, Bongolan, Pakil,
Saksik, and Tordan—for textile production, Saba shows potential
for high fiber yield based on this cultivar’s low residual gum
content. Ms. Marites S. de Leon, the researcher, explained that
the residual gum content is one of the major considerations in
assessing cellulosic fiber’s suitability for textile use. She
stressed that fiber with very high gum content will not be
economically viable for textile use because such fiber will
require higher pretreatment inputs to attain the desired gum
content level which results in low fiber yield. Among the six
cultivars, Saba fibers have residual gum content close to that
of the Cavendish fibers, which have