The morphological characteristics of cellulosic fibers obtained from sugarcane straw were determined. This material, a fibrous residue, presented fiber length (1.24 mm) between the eucaliptus (1.0 mm) and Pinus (4.0 mm) fiber lengths, whose woods are the main cellulosic raw material used to produce pulp and paper. The average values for wall thickness, lumen diameter and fiber width were, respectively 4.33, 4.15 and 12.80 µm. Although, the fiber yields obtained in acid (34.63%) or alkaline (33.97%) conditions were low in comparison with that obtained for wood species, the sugarcane straw is adequate to be used as raw material for papermaking.
sugarcane straw; agricultural residue; cellulosic fiber