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Retting is a stage in the manufacturing of vegetable fibers
Fiber crop

Fiber crops are field crops grown for their fibers, which are traditionally used to make paper, cloth, or rope. The fibers may be chemically modified, like in viscose or cellophane....
, especially the bast fibers. It is a process that employs water and microbial action to separate the bast fibers from the woody core (the xylem
Xylem

In vascular plants, xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue, phloem being the other. The word "xylem" is derived from classical Greek language ????? , "wood", and indeed the best known xylem tissue is wood, though it is found throughout the plant....
), and sometimes from the epidermis
Epidermis (botany)

The epidermis is a single-layered group of cells that covers plants leaf, flowers, roots and Plant stem. It forms a boundary between the plant and the external world....
 as well.

In "water retting", plant stems such as flax
Flax

Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean region to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent....
, jute
Jute

Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, family Tiliaceae....
, hemp
Hemp

File:Industrialhemp.jpgHemp is the common name for plants of the entire genus Cannabis, although the term is often used to refer only to Cannabis strains cultivated for industrial use....
 or kenaf
Kenaf

Kenaf [Etymology: Persian], Hibiscus cannabinus, is a plant in the Malvaceae family. Hibiscus cannabinus is in the genus Hibiscus and is probably native to southern Asia, though its exact natural origin is unknown....
 are submerged in water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
, and soaked for a period of approximately 20 days to loosen the fibers from the other components of the stem.






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Retting is a stage in the manufacturing of vegetable fibers
Fiber crop

Fiber crops are field crops grown for their fibers, which are traditionally used to make paper, cloth, or rope. The fibers may be chemically modified, like in viscose or cellophane....
, especially the bast fibers. It is a process that employs water and microbial action to separate the bast fibers from the woody core (the xylem
Xylem

In vascular plants, xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue, phloem being the other. The word "xylem" is derived from classical Greek language ????? , "wood", and indeed the best known xylem tissue is wood, though it is found throughout the plant....
), and sometimes from the epidermis
Epidermis (botany)

The epidermis is a single-layered group of cells that covers plants leaf, flowers, roots and Plant stem. It forms a boundary between the plant and the external world....
 as well.

In "water retting", plant stems such as flax
Flax

Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean region to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent....
, jute
Jute

Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, family Tiliaceae....
, hemp
Hemp

File:Industrialhemp.jpgHemp is the common name for plants of the entire genus Cannabis, although the term is often used to refer only to Cannabis strains cultivated for industrial use....
 or kenaf
Kenaf

Kenaf [Etymology: Persian], Hibiscus cannabinus, is a plant in the Malvaceae family. Hibiscus cannabinus is in the genus Hibiscus and is probably native to southern Asia, though its exact natural origin is unknown....
 are submerged in water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
, and soaked for a period of approximately 20 days to loosen the fibers from the other components of the stem. Retting can also be done by letting the cut crop stand in the fields in the wet Fall, called "dew retting". In either approach, bacterial action attacks pectin
Pectin

Pectin is a structural heteropolysaccharide contained in the primary cell walls of terrestrial plants. It was first isolated and described in 1825 by Henri Braconnot....
 and lignin
Lignin

Lignin or lignen is a complex chemical compound most commonly derived from wood, and an integral part of the secondary cell walls of plants and some algae....
, freeing the cellulose
Cellulose

File:Cellulose Sessel.svgCellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand ? linked D-glucose units....
 fibres. The stems must be monitored during retting to avoid excessive degradation of the fibres, making it a very labor-intensive process.

Once retting is complete, the stems are then removed and washed, where they are typically subjected to mechanical processing, involving beating to remove the soft tissue, known as scutching, and then dried so that all that remains are the fibres.

See also: Jute cultivation
Jute cultivation

Jute is one of the most important natural fibers after cotton in terms of cultivation and usage. Cultivation is dependent on the climate, season, and soil....