LPT 312: Abattoir Practices and Animal Products Technology (1+1)

STRUCTURE OF WOOL

• A wool fibre has two distinct layers of cells.
• The outer protective sheath has flat, irregularly shaped scales similar to that of the fish, which overlap each other.
  • These scales are loosely attached to the inner layer in comparison to hair.
  • The outer layer of scales is very important.
  • It influences the quality of wool because of its shrinking, strengthening and felting conditions.
  • In the living condition, the outer wool scales are with wool sweat (grease) or yolk called suint secreted from special glands to keep the fibre in good condition.
  • In fact, condition denotes the degree of grease or oil present in the wool.
  • A part of suint is water-soluble and can be removed during washing.
• The inner layer of wool fibre is cortex, which consists of long fibrils cemented together.
  • In hair, it encloses the air-filled medulla.
  • Thus, hair has less strength than wool.