Jute

Jute (/dʒut/ JOOT) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads.

[2] The bulk of the jute trade is centered in South Asia, with India and Bangladesh as the primary producers.

Historical documents (including Ain-e-Akbari by Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak in 1590) state that the poor villagers of India used to wear clothing made of jute.

History also suggests that Indians, especially Bengalis, used ropes and twines made of white jute from ancient times for household and other uses.

People use the leaves as an ingredient in a mucilaginous potherb called "molokhiya" (ملوخية, of uncertain etymology), which is mainly used in some Arabic countries such as Egypt, Jordan, and Syria as a soup-based dish, sometimes with meat over rice or lentils.

The King James translation of the Book of Job (chapter 30, verse 4), in the Hebrew Bible, mistranslates the word מלוח maluaḥ, which means Atriplex as "mallow", which in turn has led some to identify this jute species as that what was meant by the translators, and led it to be called 'Jew's mallow' in English.

More than a billion jute sandbags were exported from Bengal to the trenches of World War I, and to the American South for bagging cotton.

The fibers are first extracted by retting, a process in which jute stems are bundled together and immersed in slow running water.

In the stripping process, workers scrape off non-fibrous matter, then dig in and grab the fibers from within the jute stem.

Due to its durability and biodegradability, jute matting is used as a temporary solution to prevent flood erosion.

Other jute consumer products include floor coverings, high performance technical textiles, geotextiles, and composites.

Jute has been used as a home textile due to its anti-static and color- and light-fast properties, as well as its strength, durability, UV protection, sound and heat insulation, and low thermal conductivity.

Corchous olitorius leaves are used to make mulukhiya, which is sometimes considered the Egyptian national dish, and is also consumed in Cyprus and other Middle Eastern countries.

In India (West Bengal) and Bangladesh, in the Bengali cuisine, the fresh leaves are stir fried and eaten as path saak bhaja (পাঠ শাক ভাজা) along with a mustard sauce called kasundi (কাসুন্দি).

In Nigeria, leaves of Corchorus olitorius are prepared in sticky soup called ewedu together with ingredients such as sweet potato, dried small fish, or shrimp.

The cook shreds the jute leaves adds them to the soup, which generally also contains meat or fish, onions, pepper, and other spices.

In the Philippines, especially in Ilocano-dominated areas, this vegetable, which is locally known as saluyot, can be mixed with bitter gourd, bamboo shoots, loofah, or a combination of these ingredients, which have a slimy and slippery texture.

[8] As global concern over forest destruction increases, jute may begin to replace wood as a primary pulp ingredient.