Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Amazon Rubber, A Potential Yet to be Rediscovered

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Polymers and the Environment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Natural rubber still has socioeconomic, environmental and technical importance, despite the production of several synthetic similar polymers in the last 70 years. The Amazon Rainforest, the genetic base of Hevea brasiliensis, harbors a great diversity of ecosystems that can result in differentiated latex and elastomer molecules, from trees of the same species or other species and varieties of laticifer plants. Even so, there is little research to compare latex and rubber properties produced from native trees and planted clones. In this work, rubber latex was collected from four locations in the Amazon, including the historical places of Boim and Belterra and the most cultivated clone in Brazil, the RRIM 600, from a hevea plantation in the Center-West of Brazil. The following colloid properties were determined: pH, viscosity, particle size, dry rubber content, total solids content, gel content, total lipids, and total proteins. The molecular weight and the main physical and mechanical properties of the rubbers were also determined. Some main results can be highlighted: the rubber sample from Acre, in the extreme Western part of the Amazon, presented the highest molecular weight, while the Belterra sample, from remaining plantations of the Ford Project in Amazon, showed the highest values for mechanical properties. On the other hand, the technical characteristics of the RRIM 600 clone are close to the results obtained for the Boim sample, in Pará, of the micro-region from where Henry Wickham collected the 70,000 seeds in 1876, from which the species was internationally domesticated. The present work is one of the very few studies to have been carried out with latex and rubber of these ancient rubber trees.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Jacob JL, d’Auzac J, Prevôt JC (1993) The composition of natural latex from Hevea brasiliensis. Clin Rev Allergy 11:325–337. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02914415

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Dupont J, Moreau F, Lance C, Jacob JL (1976) Phospholipid composition of the membrane of lutoids from Hevea brasiliensis latex. Phytochemistry 15:1215–1217. https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(76)85080-7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Lim HM, Misni M (2016) Colloidal and rheological properties of natural rubber latex. Appl Rheol 26:1–10. https://doi.org/10.3933/APPLRHEOL-26-15659

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kekwick R (2001) Latex and laticifers—encyclopedia of life sciences. John Wiley Sons, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  5. d’Auzac J, Jacob JL (1989) The Composition of Latex from Hevea brasiliensis as a laticiferous cytoplasm. In: d’Auzac J, Jacob JL, Chrestin H (eds) Physiology of rubber tree latex. CRC Press, Florida, pp 59–99

    Google Scholar 

  6. Blackley DC (1997) Polymer latices: science and technology—volume 2: types of latices. Springer, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  7. Tanaka Y, Tarachiwin L (2009) Recent advances in structural characterization of natural rubber. Rubber Chem Technol 82:283–314. https://doi.org/10.5254/1.3548250

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Cornish K (2001) Biochemistry of natural rubber, a vital raw material, emphasizing biosynthetic rate, molecular weight and compartmentalization, in evolutionarily divergent plant species. Nat Prod Rep 18:182–189. https://doi.org/10.1039/a902191d

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Priyadarshan PM (2017) Biology of hevea rubber. Springer, Cham

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. Tambs LA (1966) Rubber, rebels and Rio Branco: the contest for the acre. Hisp Am Hist Rev 46:254–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Leakey RRB, Tomich TP (1998) Domestication of tropical trees: from biology to economics and policy. In: Buck LE, Lassoie JP, Fernandes ECM (eds) Agroforestry in sustainable agricultural systems. CRC PRESS, London, pp 319–335

    Google Scholar 

  12. Priyadarshan PM, Clément-Demange A (2004) Breeding Hevea rubber: formal and molecular genetics. Adv Genet 52:51–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2660(04)52003-5

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Clément-Demange A, Priyadarshan PM, Hoa TTT, Venkatachalam P (2007) Hevea rubber breeding and genetics. In: Janick J (ed) Plant breeding reviews. John Wiley & Sons, Nova Jersey, p 177

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  14. Puskas JE, Chiang K, Barkakaty B (2014) Natural rubber (NR) biosynthesis: perspectives from polymer chemistry. In: Kohjiya S, Ikeda Y (eds) Chemistry, manufacture and applications of natural rubber, 23rd edn. Woodhead Publishing Limited, Sawston, pp 30–67

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. Morton M (1981) History of synthetic rubber. J Macromol Sci Part A 15:1289–1302. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222338108056786

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. IBGE (2018) Produção da Extração Vegetal e da Silvicultura. In: Inst. Bras. Geogr. e Estatística. https://sidra.ibge.gov.br/tabela/289. Accessed 3 Dec 2018

  17. Nascimento KR, Pastore F Jr, Peres JBR Jr (2015) Produção de Borracha FDL e FSA: Guia de Treinamento. WWF-Brasil, Brasilia

    Google Scholar 

  18. ASTM-D1076 (2015) Standard specification for rubber-concentrated, ammonia preserved, creamed, and centrifuged natural latex

  19. Liengprayoon S, Bonfils F, Sainte-Beuve J et al (2008) Development of a new procedure for lipid extraction from Hevea brasiliensis natural rubber. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol 110:563–569. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejlt.200700287

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. ASTM-D5712 (2015) Standard test method for analysis of aqueous extractable protein in latex, natural rubber, and elastomeric products using the modified lowry method

  21. ASTM-D2240(e1) (2015) Standard test method for rubber property-durometer hardness

  22. ASTM-D624 (2012) Standard Test method for tear strength of conventional vulcanized rubber and thermoplastic elastomers

  23. ASTM-D412 (2016) Standard test methods for vulcanized rubber and thermoplastic elastomers-tension

  24. IBM Corp (2016) SPSS statistics for Windows

  25. Bouvier F, Rahier A, Camara B (2005) Biogenesis, molecular regulation and function of plant isoprenoids. Prog Lipid Res 44:357–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plipres.2005.09.003

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Yip E (1990) Clonal characterisation of latex and rubber properties. J Nat Rubber Res 5:52–80

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Chaikumpollert O, Yamamoto Y, Suchiva K, Kawahara S (2012) Protein-free natural rubber. Colloid Polym Sci 290:331–338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-011-2549-y

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Sansatsadeekul J, Sakdapipanich J, Rojruthai P (2011) Characterization of associated proteins and phospholipids in natural rubber latex. J Biosci Bioeng 111:628–634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiosc.2011.01.013

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Marinho JRD, Tanaka Y (1999) Structural characterization of wild rubber: gel content. J Rubber Res 2:231–238

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Kovuttikulrangsie S, Tanaka Y (1999) NR latex particle size and its molecular weight from young and mature hevea trees. J Rubber Res 2:150–159

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Rippel MM, Lee LT, Leite CAP, Galembeck F (2003) Skim and cream natural rubber particles: colloidal properties, coalescence and film formation. J Colloid Interface Sci 268:330–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2003.07.046

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Bhowmick AK, Cho J, MacArthur A, McIntyre D (1986) Influence of gel and molecular weight on the properties of natural rubber. Polymer 27:1889–1894. https://doi.org/10.1016/0032-3861(86)90177-1

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Kovuttikulrangsie S, Sakdapipanich JT (2005) The molecular weight (MW) and molecular weight distribution (MWD) of NR from different age and clone Hevea trees. Songklanakarin J Sci Technol 27:338–342

    Google Scholar 

  34. Zhou Y, Kosugi K, Yamamoto Y, Kawahara S (2016) Effect of non-rubber components on the mechanical properties of natural rubber. Polym Adv Technol. https://doi.org/10.1002/pat.3870

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Venkatachalam P, Geetha N, Sangeetha P, Thulaseedharan A (2013) Natural rubber producing plants: an overview. African J Biotechnol 12:1297–1310. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJBX12.016

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the hevea plantation company Moraes Ferrari, the SENAI Institute for Innovation in Polymer Engineering (ISI Polymer Engineering - CETEPO), the Chemistry Institute of the University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), the Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), and Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemistry Institute, University of Brasilia, Chemistry Technology Laboratory, Brasília, DF, CEP 70297-400, Brazil

    João Bosco R. Peres Jr. & Floriano Pastore Jr.

Authors
  1. João Bosco R. Peres Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Floriano Pastore Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Floriano Pastore Jr..

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Peres, J.B.R., Pastore, F. Amazon Rubber, A Potential Yet to be Rediscovered. J Polym Environ 27, 652–658 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-019-01381-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-019-01381-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation