| dc.description.abstract | Guayule (Parthenium argentatum) is grown for its high quality hypoallergenic natural rubber
latex production. The plant is native to the Chihuahua desert of North America and successful
trials have been done in Europe, the United States of America (USA) and the Republic of South
Africa (RSA). It is already undergoing industrial scale development in the USA producing good
quality rubber products with impressive stretchiness and strength. The performance of guayule
lines AZ1, AZ2, AZ3, AZ4, AZ5, AZ6, OSU1, and 11591 was investigated in the Eastern and
Western Cape regions in RSA with an ultimate goal of leading to commercial production. To
ensure continuous supply of plants, and avoiding documented seed dormancy issues, a
micropropagation protocol was established using the OSU1 guayule line. In addition, laboratory
scale latex extraction was accomplished using the Waring blender method with KOH pH 11
buffer and the amount of latex was quantified using the 1 ml latex quantification method. The
extracted latex homogenate from the different guayule lines was pooled and purified using
Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose. The efficiency of different molecular weights (90 000, 250
000 and 700 000) of Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose was determined in creaming guayule
latex at room temperature and 4 degrees celcius. The optimal creaming results were incorporated into
creaming latex extracted from the different guayule lines during this study. | |
