Natural aquatic plant fiber crops are currently being focused on in the latest advanced technologies so as to increase textile production and research. Polymer composites are commonly reinforced with sugar palm, coir, and bamboo fibers. Several alkali treatments are applied to improve the tensile strength and surface morphology of these fibers.1 Researchers and industries are now focusing on how to economically extract fibers from aquatic plants. Natural fibers are now used to produce so many products with added value. In many fields, natural fibers may be more valuable due to this. The water hyacinth (Eichhornia crasipes) is one of the fastest-growing aquatic plants.2,3 However, textile companies and researchers do not generally focus on this plant. A lot of people use the leaves of the hyacinth plant for medicinal purposes, and the plants are mainly used for food. Cooking was done with these flowers by African people. Grass growth is directly correlated with nitrogen levels in water hyacinths.4 Water hyacinth plants are being taken down in southern areas of Tamil Nadu, India because of their high growth rate. Originally originating in South America's amazon basins, this plant has been found in other locations as well.5,6 German environmentalists are the first to identify this plant. Tropical and subtropical water bodies were covered with hyacinth plants after the 1800s. Hyacinth plants pose a serious threat to the riparian communities as a result of their harmful effects. Riverside lifestyles are completely dependent on water bodies, however this hyacinth plant covered all the surfaces of the water bodies. In addition to degrading water bodies' chemistry and physical properties, hyacinth weeds prohibit fishing, power generation and transportation. People nearby the waterbody were afflicted with diseases caused by these organisms.7 A million dollars was invested to remove the water hyacinth plant from the area since it affected the economy in such a big way. Among water hyacinth plants, the wetland environment has the most toxic varieties. Leaf length on this plant is 10-15 cm, thick and spongy, and egg-shaped. Stem length is 30 to 45 cm, and leaf length 15-20 cm.8,9 A hyacinth plant's roots measure an average of 2.55 cm in length and are free-hanging below water. Flowers grow 400 times a month and the plants produce 5000 seeds every month.10
The species reproduces sexually as well as asexually. As compared to each other, both of the reproduction systems produce a large volume of seed within a very short period of time. It is, however, the vegetative system that is most common. In less than 200 days, 3,418,800 water hyacinth plants are produced through the vegetative production method. In the form of seeds, hyacinths cover water bodies all over the world with the help of humans and birds.11 Plant flowers can be produced by a single hyacinth in 20 days. The surface of the water has been covered with hyacinth mats, which have doubled in size within two weeks. Floating in the water is a result of its bulbous form, which is the main reason why it is floating.12,13 Hyacinth plants are spread by watersheds, humans, birds and even continents to continents. Hyacinth plants usually occur in water bodies and reduce several important parameters of the water contents including salinity, dissolved oxygen, dissolved solids, potential hydrogen, and some other important nutrients. This hyacinth plant was used for the paper production process by small-scale industries. Throughout the world, the hyacinth plant is also used as a feed for animals and as a method of organic farming.14 Mercury and other pollutant types are heavily absorbed by the roots of hyacinth plants. There is an increase in nitrogen removal if there is a plant present in the water.15
The water hyacinth plant's growth is very dependent on the temperature. Hyacinth aquatic plants grow at a minimum temperature of 14°C, whereas their nominal temperature ranges from 25 to 32°C and they are extremely tolerant of temperatures above 35°C. In many countries, there are several ways to control the growth of the population.16 More often than not, mechanical control methods are used instead of physical and chemical ones. Physical methods require more human powder and time, and chemical methods pose the greatest threat to other aquatic animals and nearby bodies of water. Additionally, all countries have preferred using mechanical methods to remove the hyacinth plants from water bodies. To avoid nuisance problems, many nations have invested large amounts of money in cultivating these hyacinth plants in water bodies. Some countries attempt to a mechanical method of removing the water hyacinths, whereas in India, a manual method is used to remove these plants.17
It is the aim of this study to identify the different types of extraction methods that can be used to effectively extract the aquatic waste from water hyacinth plants. In this work, material was extracted from the stem of the water hyacinth plant very elaborately. As the result of the study, the mechanical method of extracting hyacinth fiber is identified as an effective, low-wastage method that is suitable for hyacinth fiber extraction. We strongly recommend that those fibers mechanically extracted must be used in synthetic fiber composites instead.