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Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from in the genus Corchorus, of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is Corchorus olitorius, but such fiber is considered inferior to that derived from Corchorus capsularis.
Jute fibers, composed primarily of cellulose and lignin, are collected from bast (the phloem of the plant, sometimes called the "skin"). The industrial term for jute fiber is raw jute. The fibers are off-white to brown and range from long. In Bangladesh, jute is called the " golden fiber" for its color and monetary value.
The bulk of the jute trade is centered in South Asia, with India and Bangladesh as the primary producers. The majority of jute is used for durable and sustainable packaging, such as Gunny sack. Its production and usage declined as disposable plastic packaging became common, but this trend has begun to reverse as merchants and even nations phase out or Plastic bans.
Bangladesh and other countries in Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Ocean mainly use jute for its fiber. Tossa jute fiber is softer, silkier, and stronger than white jute. This variety shows good sustainability in the Ganges Delta climate. Along with white jute, tossa jute has also been cultivated in the soil of Bengal where has been known as paat since the start of the 19th century. Coremantel, Bangladesh, is the largest global producer of the tossa jute variety. In India, West Bengal is the largest producer of jute.
For centuries, jute has been a part of the culture of Bangladesh and some parts of West Bengal and Assam. The British started Jute trade during the seventeenth century. During the reign of the British Empire, jute was also used in the military. British jute barons grew rich by processing jute and selling manufactured products made from it. Dundee Jute Barons and the British East India Company set up many jute mills in Bengal, and by 1895 jute industries in Bengal overtook the Scotland jute trade. Many Scots emigrated to Bengal to set up jute factories. More than a billion jute were exported from Bengal to the trenches of World War I, and to the American South for bagging cotton. It was used in multiple industries, including the Fishing industry, construction, art, and Arms industry industries.
Due to its coarse and tough texture, jute could initially only be processed by hand, until someone in Dundee discovered that treating it with whale oil made it machine processable. The industry boomed throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries ("jute weaver" was a recognized trade occupation in the 1901 UK census), but this trade largely ceased by about 1970, being substituted for by Synthetic fiber. In the 21st century, jute has become a large export again, mainly in Bangladesh.
Jute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or , in contrast to cotton's heavy requirements. Production in India is concentrated mostly in West Bengal. India is the world's largest producer of jute, but imported approximately 162,000 tonnes of raw fiber and 175,000 tonnes of jute products in 2011. India, Pakistan, and China import significant quantities of jute fiber and products from Bangladesh, as do the United Kingdom, Japan, United States, France, Spain, Ivory Coast, Germany and Brazil. Jute and jute products formerly held the top position among Bangladesh's most exported goods, although now they stand second after Ready-to-wear. Annually, Bangladesh produces 7 to 8 million bales of raw jute, out of which 0.6 to 0.8 million bales are exported to international markets. China, India, and Pakistan are the primary importers of Bangladeshi raw jute.
| + Top ten jute producers, by metric ton, as of 2020 |
The jute plant also has some culinary uses, which are generally focused on the leaves.
Due to its durability and biodegradability, jute matting is used as a temporary solution to prevent flood erosion.
Researchers have also investigated the possibility of using jute and glucose to build aeroplane panels.
The coarser fibers, which are called jute butts, are used alone or combined with other fibers to make many products:
Finer jute fibers can be processed for use in:
Jute was historically used in traditional textile machinery because jute fibers contain cellulose (vegetable fiber) and lignin (wood fiber). Later, several industries, such as the automotive, pulp and paper, furniture, and bedding industries, started to use jute and its allied fibers with their non-woven and composite technology to manufacture nonwoven fabric, technical textiles, and composites.
Jute is used in the manufacture of fabrics, such as Hessian cloth, sacking, scrim, carpet backing cloth (CBC), and canvas. Hessian is lighter than sacking, and it is used for bags, wrappers, wall-coverings, upholstery, and home furnishings. Sacking, which is a fabric made of heavy jute fibers, has its use in the name. CBC made of jute comes in two types: primary and secondary. Primary CBC provides a tufting surface, while secondary CBC is bonded onto the primary backing for an overlay. Jute packaging is sometimes used as an environmentally friendly substitute for plastic.
Other jute consumer products include floor coverings, high performance technical textiles, , and composites. Jute has been used as a home textile due to its anti-static and color- and Lightfastness properties, as well as its strength, durability, Ultraviolet protection, Soundproofing and heat insulation, and low thermal conductivity.
In India (West Bengal) and Bangladesh, in the Bengali cuisine, the fresh leaves are Stir frying and eaten as path saak bhaja (পাঠ শাক ভাজা) along with a mustard sauce called kasundi (কাসুন্দি). The leaves are also eaten by making Pakora (পাঠ পাতার বড়া) with rice flour or Gram flour batter.
In Nigeria, leaves of Corchorus olitorius are prepared in sticky soup called Ewedu soup together with ingredients such as sweet potato, dried small fish, or shrimp.AVRDC. Recipes - African Sticky Soup (Ewedu) . Retrieved 27 June 2013. The leaves are rubbed until foamy or sticky before they are added to the soup. Among the Yoruba people people of Nigeria, the leaves are called Ewedu, and in the Hausa language-speaking northern Nigeria, the leaves are called turgunuwa or lallo. The cook shreds the jute leaves and adds them to the soup, which generally also contains meat or fish, onions, pepper, and other spices. The Lugbara people of Northwestern Uganda also eat jute leaves in a soup called pala bi. Jute is also a totem for Ayivu, one of the Lugbara .
In the Philippines, especially in Ilocano people-dominated areas, this vegetable, which is locally known as saluyot, can be mixed with bitter gourd, , loofah, or a combination of these ingredients, which have a slimy and slippery texture.
Vietnamese cuisine also use edible jute known as rau đay. It is usually used in canh cooked with Crab meat and loofah.
In Haiti, a dish called "Lalo" is made with jute leaves and other ingredients. One version of Lalo includes lalo with crab and meat (such as pork or beef) served on a bed of rice.
As global concern over forest destruction increases, jute may begin to replace wood as a primary pulp ingredient.
==Cultural significance==
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