Alpaca fibers

Table III. Amino Acid Composition of Alpaca Fibers...

Leeder [16] has shown that the composition of the cell membrane complex (see Section 5.2.5), of which the lipid fraction is one component, has a dramatic influence on fiber and fabric properties. The composition of the internal lipid fractions of a number of specialty animal fibers has been the subject of detailed study [309,310]. Wool, cashmere, cashgora, and mohair contain free cholesterol and desmosterol in the ratio of 1.7-2.6 1 [309]. By comparison, llama, camel, and alpaca fibers contain virtually no free cholesterol or desmosterol. The results for yak vary widely [309,310]. Rabbit and dog hairs have distinctive sterol compositions, which are unlike each other and different from that of wool and goat fibers. 

Alpaca al- pa-ko [Sp, fr. Aymara allpaqa] (1811) n. (1) Long, fine hair from Alpaca sheep. (2) A fabric from alpaca fibers or... 

Alpaca al-lpa-ko n [Sp, fr. Aymara allpaqa] (1811) (1) Long, fine hair from Alpaca sheep. (2) A fabric from alpaca fibers or blends (originally a cotton cloth with alpaca filling), that is used for dresses, coats, suits, and sweaters. It is also used as a pile lining for jackets and coats (The term has been incorrectly used to describe a rayon fabric). 

Amino Acid Analysis. Protein fibers, such as wool and alpaca, consist of macromolecules that are naturally formed during the growth of the hair. These large molecules are actually copolymers of about 20... 

Figure 7 shows schematic reproductions of the shapes of the X-ray diffractive traces of alpaca observed after treatments in water and tetrachloroethylene. The reflections observed at about 9.8° (20) may indicate that the fibers contain ordered components having a specific helical configuration of the polypeptide chains (31). Aqueous treatments caused some changes in the intensities of the traces. In comparison, the nonaqueous treatment in tetrachloroethylene yielded a trace not much different from the control trace. On the basis of these observations, it is postulated that nonaqueous treatments affect the fiber morphology of historic cotton and protein fibers to a lesser degree than aqueous cleaning treatments. 

Textile definitions most generally accepted for reference in the United States are those standardized by the American Society for Testing Materials and published in ASTM Standards on Textile Materials (W, 25). The Federal Trade Commission has also established definitions for use in enforcing its Trade Practice Rulings 20). These may differ from the ASTM definitions—for example, the ASTM restricts its definition of wool to the fiber from the fleece of the sheep, whereas the Federal Trade Commission defines it as the fiber from the fleece of the sheep or lamb or hair of the Angora or Cashmere goat (and may include the so-called specialty fibers from the hair of the camel, alpaca, llama, and vicuna). ... 

The data for cuticle analysis are based on the work of Bradbury et al. [16] who analyzed cuticle and whole fiber from several keratin sources, including human hair, merino wool, mohair, and alpaca. These scientists concluded that there is very nearly the same difference between the amino acid composition of the cuticle and each of these fibers from which it was derived. They listed the average percentage differences used in these calculations. More recent analyses of cuticle and whole fiber of human hair [68, 69] are in general agreement with these data [18]. 

Other animal fibers used in the textile industry include mohair, cashmere, alpaca, llama,... 

Logan et al. [309] analyzed the free fatty acid composition of wool, mohair, cashgora, rabbit, yak, camel, alpaca, and dog hair and found that palmitic, stearic, and oleic adds accounted for 77-96% of the free fatty acids present. Korner [310] determined the total fatty acid composition for cashmere and yak fibers after saponification and found that the three fatty acids accounted for 50-60% of the fatty acids present. In addition, many fatty acids in the range C7-C26 were present in small amounts. These results confirm that some of the fatty acids are present as esters. When wool, cashmere, and cashgora, from which the surface grease has been removed, are digested with alkali, high yields (16-18%) of 18-methyleicosanoic acid are obtained [309,311]. This fatty acid is covalently bound to the surface of the fibers (see Section 5.2.2). 

The fine structure of the specialty animal fibers, particularly that of cashmere, cashgora, llama, alpaca, guanaco, vicuna, yak, and camel, has received little attention compared to that given to wool. Prior to the late 1980s, most of the examinations were on longitudinal and transverse fiber sections and used optical microscopy [312-314]. The more recent work arose from the need to differentiate one animal fiber from another [315]. As a result, SEM procedures have been developed. These require the measurement of scale heights [316,317] and can suffer from problems of interpretation due to false scale edges and ill-defined scales. 

Early studies on the fine structure of specialty animal fibers involved differential staining using dyestuffs or heavy metals, and subsequent observations were made using light microscopy. By means of these techniques, vicuna fiber was shown to have a bilateral structure [318], and mohair fiber, predominantly ortho- with some paralike material [319] (see Sections 5.2.2 and 5.2.3). Bilateral structures are also observed when wool, cashmere, camel, and alpaca (but not mohair) are treated with sodium hydroxide and examined by means of polarized light [297]. 

Camel fibers from the same fleece can exhibit both bilateral and random cell arrangements. Similar observations have been made for yak fibers, which tend to consist mainly of ortho- and mesolike cells [296]. Vicuna and guanaco exhibit bilateral structure, whereas llama and alpaca do not [296]. 

Fibers from the bast or cellulosic family, namely hemp, jute, and linen, are occasionally used in fabrics in their own right but are more often used as feature blends in cotton and rayon apparel fabrics. These cellulosic fibers have the same basic fiber chemistry as cotton. Hence, the principles and practice for preparation, dyeing, and finishing processes are relatively similar. The specialty animal fibers such as alpaca and mohair are generally used in blends with wool as they have similar processing and... 

Alpaca stitch n. A 1 x 1 purl-links stitch that is knit so that the courses run vertically instead of horizontally as the fabric comes off the knitting machine. A garment made with an alpaca stitch is not always 100% alpaca it can be made of other natural or manufactured fibers. 

Animal fibers n. Fibers of animal origin such as wool, alpaca, camel hair, and silk. 

Optim fine fibers are stronger and softer than the parent wool and exhibit an attractive lustre. They are used to produce fabrics with many of the aesthetic properties of silk. The modified wool is ideal for spinning into fine yams, especially with other high value natural fibers, eg, silk, cashmere, and alpaca, where softness, lightness, and sheen are desirable attributes. 

Dampen the cuffs (or neckline or waistband) of your cotton, alpaca, cashmere, wool, or angora sweater. Use your fingers to pinch together the fibers and to reshape as desired. 

The other major hair (keratin) fibers include mohair, cashmere, llama, alpaca, and vicuna, as well as many others. Regenerated Azlon fibers are derived from soluble proteins that can be spun into fibers, insolubilized, and regenerated. Soluble proteins also may be grafted to form a copolymer, dissolved, and then spun into fibers. 

Characteristics Alpaca/ Llama Vikunja/ Guanaco Camel Fiber Material Angora Mohair Cashmere Cash- gora Yak... 

Textiles from animals are commonly made from their hair or fur. in most cases, these fibers are non-scaled and non-coated with natural oils. On the other hand, wools, which refer to the hairs of goats and sheep, are scaled structures with a wax-like coating also known as lanolin which is hydrophobic and dirt-repellent. Further, woolen yarns are bulky and formed from non-parallel, carded fibers, whereas worsted yarns are finer and are spun from long, combed (parallel) fibers. Other animals producing wools include alpaca, llamas, angora rabbits, camels, and silkworms. 

Wool is a protein fiber that is obtained from the fleece of - sheep. Aside from normal domestic sheep, there are other varieties, such as merino. The term w. covers also the hair of lamas (alpaca), camels, rabbits (angora) and goats (mohair, cashmere). Chemically, wool is a - protein, based on keratin, and consists of 24 different - amino acids. Most important is the content of S-containing amino acids (cystine), which are responsible for the disulfide cross-linking. 

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