Extraction of coir fibers by different methods

Coconut (Cocos nucifera), a famous fruit, is grown in the world's tropical regions. The coir fiber obtained from coconut husk has many advantages, particularly its reinforced composites and other applications after separating cellulose. As the world is shifting its focus towards green materials, the demand is rising for biodegradable materials like coir fibers. These fibers are robust and stiff, environmentally friendly though the husk and shells of this fruit are disposed of as waste materials during the fiber extraction. The use of coir fiber for different applications depends upon how well the fibers are extracted from the mother fruit. The fiber extraction is done carefully to obtain the fine fiber as an end product, which can then be reinforced to produce materials for different applications. Coir fiber extraction processes use a combination of humans and machines, need a lot of attention and manpower to obtain such superiority, fiber with good material properties, which make them excellent materials compared to synthetic ones. However, there are other methods of enhancing the mechanical properties of the end products. This chapter provides an overview of coir fiber, its types, and the associated extraction methods of these fibers from its husk. The chapter provides information about traditional and mechanical extraction processes along with examples. Furthermore, this chapter also focuses on coir fiber applications along with their future scope.