Textile quality of the llamas (Lama glama) descerdated fiber in a humid ecological floor

Abstract

Llama breeding is an alternative activity to alleviate the poverty of families in rural areas, either as a meat or fiber producer; however, it is pertinent to add value through the process of dehairing the fiber. The objective was to determine quality parameters of the dehairing fiber of llamas of the phenotypes K'ara and Ch'aku, which elucidate quality using computerized instruments, in llamas from Puna húmeda of the Puno region, Peru; the purpose is to massify its results for genetic selection purposes. Fleece fiber samples were taken from both sexes and different ages. The dehairing was manual, the textile attributes were determined by an OFDA 2000 team at the Quimsachata-Puno Research and Production Center. The phenotype manifested different effects (p ≤ 0.05) on most textile characteristics of the fiber down in favor of the Ch'aku; mean diameter was 19.53 ± 2.68b and 24.98 ± 3.29a; comfort factor of 95. 33 ± 9.30a and 82.31 ± 4.42b; percentage of fibers less than 15 microns of 13.35 ± 4.05a % and 2.45 ± 3.22b %; wick length of 120.95 ± 27.83a and 66.71 ± 25.89b, in Ch'aku and K'ara llamas, respectively. The mean fiber diameter variable is lower (p ≤ 0.05) in males (19.90 ± 2.39a) than in females (18.33 ± 3.29b) only in Ch'aku; females exhibit better curvature index than males in both phenotypes. The percentage of fibers smaller than 15 µ in females 9.90 ± 8.97b and 24.63 ± 20.81a in males is different (p ≤ 0.05), only in Ch'aku. By age, the comfort factor is the only variable not affected by age; the characteristics mean diameter, standard deviation of mean diameter and fiber length of adult llamas differ (p ≤ 0.05) from the young ones; meanwhile, the coefficient of variability of mean diameter, Curvature index and standard deviation of curvature index only young llamas from one to two years old, exhibit different values (p ≤ 0.05) with respect to the other ages.