Fique is a

natural fibre Natural fibers or natural fibres (see spelling differences) are fibers that are produced by geological processes, or from the bodies of plants or animals. They can be used as a component of composite materials, where the orientation of fi ...

that grows in the leaves of plants in the genus ''

Furcraea ''Furcraea'' is a genus of succulent plants belonging to the family Asparagaceae, native to tropical regions of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America. Some species are also naturalized in parts of Africa, the United S ...

''. Common names include fique, cabuya, pita, penca, penco, maguey, cabui, chuchao and coquiza.

History

The

Indigenous peoples of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

extracted and used the fique fibers to make garments, ropes, and

hammock A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a wo ...

s—among many things—for several centuries before the arrival of Spanish conquerors. In the 17th century,

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

colonists carried the plant from their Brazilian colonies in

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the ...

to the island of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

. The native inhabitants of the island learned to use the fibre and called it , or . The fibre was also introduced to St. Helena, India, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Madagascar, East Africa, Mexico and Costa Rica. In the 18th century, in

Dagua Dagua () is a town and municipality located in the Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative divisio ...

, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, the priest Feliciano Villalobos started the first rope and wrapping materials manufacturing industry; his products were made of fique. In 1880 the Colombian government reported a yearly production of three million kilograms of fibres, the exportation to Venezuela of two million, the fabrication of five millions pairs of

alpargata Espadrilles ( Spanish: ''alpargatas or esparteñas''; Catalan: ''espardenyes''; Basque: ''espartinak'') are casual, rope-soled, flat but sometimes high-heeled shoes. They usually have a canvas or cotton fabric upper and a flexible sole made ...

s and four million metres of rope. Between 1970 and 1975 the fique industry suffered a crisis brought about by the development of

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins a ...

, which costs less and is produced faster. Today, fique is considered the Colombian national fibre and is used in the fabrication of ethnic products, Colombian handicrafts and recently (since July 2007) has been used for the heat protectors (handmade in

Barichara Barichara is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. In 2010, in recognition of its history, architecture, and touristic potential, Barichara was declared a Colombian '' Pueblo Patrimonio'' (heritage town). ...

) placed around the

Colombian coffee Coffee production in Colombia has a reputation for producing mild, well-balanced coffee beans. Colombia's average annual coffee production of 11.5 million bags is the third total highest in the world, after Brazil and Vietnam, though highe ...

cups sold in the Juan Valdez coffee shops worldwide.

Uses

*Packing: The main use of the Colombian cabuya is for the fabrication of sacks and packages for agriculture. According with the number of threads, the products are classified as: **Dense: 6000 to 10,000 threads per square metre. Used for

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...

and small grains such

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

. **Semidense: 4800 to 5500. Used for bigger grains such

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

and

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

s. **Loose: 300 to 360. Used for fruits, vegetables and

panela Panela () or rapadura (Portuguese pronunciation: ) is an unrefined whole cane sugar, typical of Central and Latin America. It is a solid form of sucrose derived from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice. Panela is known by other na ...

. *Ropes: with cabuya one can make very resistant ropes and strings of different calibres, from threads to manilas one inch in diameter. Such ropes are used in the industries of transportation, construction, sailing and many others. * Arriería accessories: many of the elements used in the

pack animal A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is an individual or type of working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back, in contrast to draft ani ...

s, such as enjalmas, cinchas, retrancas, lazos, pretales, tapa de enjalma, and cinchos are handmade with fique. *

Tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...

: the mixed and crude cabuya is used in rugs and tapestry of different size and quality. The fibres can be stained with different organic materials, such as

avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...

seed, achiote and

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as ...

cortex. *Others: handcrafts, purses, bags, handbags,

mattress A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a lying person. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, conta ...

es, curtains, shoes, umbrellas, baskets and many other products.

Subproducts

*Pulp: Used to produce organic fertilizer and

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distribu ...

*Leaves juice: Can be used for fabrication of

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are us ...

fungicide Fungicides are biocidal chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill parasitic fungi or their spores. A fungistatic inhibits their growth. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality ...

alcoholic beverages An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The cons ...

(homemade tapetusa), organic fuel and animal

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

. *Floral stem: The strong floral stem of the fique plant is used in the construction of houses and ladders. *Bulbs: The

pickled Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called ...

terminal bulbs of the plant are edible. *Medicinal uses: Peasants use the leaves in topic preparations for treatment of

boil A boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, which is an infection of the hair follicle. It is most commonly caused by infection by the bacterium '' Staphylococcus aureus'', resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by ...

s. The extract of leaves is used against

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

lice Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a resul ...

Cultivation

The fique can be obtained from several species of ''

'', such as '' F. macrophylla'' Baker, cabuya Trel, andina Trel, and castilla. Depending on the processing of the fiber and the species used, many varieties of fique fibers can be obtained. Among others:

Main varieties

*Ceniza (ash-colored) *Espinosa (rough texture) *Castilla or Golden border *Sisal

Secondary varieties

*Cabuya verde (green) *Uña de águila (eagle nail) *Negra común (black common) *Chachagueña *Genoia *Tunosa común (common spiked) *Jardineña *Espadilla *Rabo de chucha (

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered No ...

tail). Optimal conditions for the growing of the fique plant are: *Temperature: 19 °C – 23 °C *Altitude: 1,300 m – 1,900 m *Annual rainfall: 1,000 mm – 1,600 mm *Sunlight: 5–6 hours/day *Soil: dry, rich in

silicate In chemistry, a silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name is a ...

s. Fique crops bring

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

to the soil, improving its fertility. The plant is very adaptable to different ecological conditions. A fique plant can produce 1 to 6 kg of fiber each year.

Diseases

*Llaga macana or rayadilla: a viral disease that attacks all varieties of fique and all the parts of the plant, especially in crops over 1900 m altitude. The disease has no chemical control. It must be managed with preventive measures. *Pink disease: caused by the

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately fr ...

'' Erythricium salmonicolor''. The disease damages the leaves, disrupting the fibers. Treatment is undertaken with

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

-based fungicides. Peasants treat this disease by applying ashes to the base of the leaves. *Leaf

cochineal The cochineal ( , ; ''Dactylopius coccus'') is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessile parasite native to tropical and subtropical South America through North America ...

( ''Diaspis bromelia''): caused by a parasitic insect. *Leaf beetle: a

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

that perforates the base of the leaves.

References

{{Fibers Furcraea Fiber plants Biodegradable materials Cellulose Crops originating from Colombia Crops originating from Ecuador Crops originating from Peru Crops originating from South America Colombian culture Garden plants of South America Plants described in 1915