Table 1.

Examples of common natural fibers for biomedical applications.

Natural Fiber	Subproduct	Properties	Assay	Potential Biomedical Application	Refs.
Jute	Cellulose nanowhiskers extracted from TEMPO-oxidized jute fibers	Ultrathin diameters and high crystallinity (69.72%), high yield (over 80%) and high surface area	In vitro	Nanowhiskers with smaller widths would be particularly useful for applications as a reinforcing phase in the nanocomposites, as well as in tissue engineering and pharmaceutical additives.	[62]
	Cellulose nano-fibrils (CNF) derived from raw jute fibers	High surface area, good rheological properties, promising water absorption, non-toxicity	In vitro	Excellent candidate for transdermal drug delivery system because the cumulative drug release percentage is decreased with the increase in the CNF concentration in the bionanocomposite film.	[63]
Flax	Flax fibers enriched with poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB)	Higher average resistance related to tensile assay and improvement of elastic properties, biocompatibility, non-immunogenicity	Preclinical	Biodegradable and biocompatible polymers useful in the fabrication of new dressing for chronic wounds with successful preclinical trial.	[64]
	Flax textiles for blood-contacting applications	Flax textiles uniquely combine hydrophilicity and strength, hydrophilic material	In vitro	Albumin coating on flax fibers reduces thrombogenicity; this can be used for implantable devices.	[65]
	Implantable mesh structures in surgery	Non-biodegradability, good physical properties	In vitro and in vivo	Used for incisional hernias of the abdominal wall after removing endotoxins in flax fiber.	[66]
Ramie	Application as surgical suture biomaterial	Excellent biocompatibility, tensile strength, and wound closure efficacy	In vitro and in vivo	Novel, cost-effective biomaterial with efficient healing properties of superficial wounds for suture material applica-tion.	[67]
	Cellulose nanocrystals isolated from ramie fibers	High crystallinity and improved thermal stability	-	Potential application as reinforcing fillers in nanocomposites.	[68]
Kenaf	Biomimetic hydroxyapatite growth in kenaf fiber	Good mechanical properties, biodegradability, enhanced adhesion of osteoblast cells to cellulose surface	-	The coating on kenaf fibers can be applied to bone tissue engineering.	[69]
	Mixed natural fibers with polymers	Flexural strength enhancement and shore hardness	-	Biomedical orthopedic application in fracture or tissue replacement.	[70]
Sisal	Sulfonated cellulose nanowhiskers extracted from fibers	Excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability	-	Potential use in tissue engineering, cosmetics, and drug delivery.	[71]
	Microcrystalline cellulose prepared from sisal fibers	Good crystallinity and shape as long thread-like fibers	In vitro	Immediate release as well as sustained release in oral solid dosage forms.	[72]
Banana	Porous microcrystalline cellulose extracted from pseudostem fibers	Highly crystalline, rod-shaped, and non-aggregating properties	In vitro	Capability to sustainably disperse isoniazid medicine, which is used for the treatment of anti-tuberculosis at regular time intervals.	[73]
	Cellulose nanofibers isolated from banana fibers	Small size and high crystallinity	-	It can be used as a promising reinforcing material in a polymer matrix to further enhance the properties and, in return, extend its applicability in pharmaceuticals, bio-nanocomposite, and tissue engineering.	[74]