Journal of Veterinary Science & Medicine

Research Article

Lanametric Determination of the Alpaca Fiber (Vicugna Pacos) in Tucayta, Province of Cañar

Simbaina Solano JC1* and Luis Raggi2

1Lanimetry Laboratory, University of Azuay, Chile
2University of Favet-Chile, Chile
*Address for Correspondence: Simbaina Solano JC, Assistant researcher “Azuay University”, Lanimetry Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Chile University, Cuenca, Ecuador, Santa Rosa 11735, Santiago, Chile; E-mail: austrogenetica@gmail.com
Received date: 24-May-2019; Accepted date: 28-June-2019; Published date: 02-July-2019
Copyright: © 2019 Simbaina Solano JC, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Alpaca fiber (Vicugna pacos) is classified as one of the finest animal fibers in the world, after the vicuna (Vicugna vicugna). Therefore, they are highly valued fibers by the textile industry. Its valuation is determined, among other variables, by fineness, which indicates its quality. To analyze some of the textile characteristics of these fibers, Optical-based bre Diameter Analyser 2000; (OFDA) equipment was used, in which t was possible to determine the average fiber diameter, length, and comfort factor. These characteristics were analyzed based on the variables of sex, age, color of the fleece, and body region. For this study, a multifactorial ANOVA was applied under a completely randomized design, and the R Project software was used. For separation of means, the Bonferroni test was used (P<0.05). The correlations between parameters were evaluated by the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results were: mean fiber diameter 22.6 μm ± 5.2; mean fiber length 60.8 mm, and mean comfort factor 86.8 %. In this way, the fibers analyzed are within the Baby alpaca category, cataloged fibers of better quality, with a high percentage of comfort factors. Additionally, it was observed that age, the body region and the fleece color directly influence the textile characteristics such as diameter, length and comfort factor; parameters that are very significant in the valuation of fiber for commercial purposes. In addition, the measurements could be used to compare with alpaca fiber used by native peoples in order to know the variations in these parameters over the centuries and to establish possible mechanisms to determine the origin of the fiber used in the ancient textiles.