Agricultural residues: Characterization and sustainable strategies for their utilization.

The growing demand for barley has generated a high quantity of residues characteristic of its harvest. Due tothe characteristics that these type of materials present, they are displayed as an alternative in the manufacture of particleboard.the objective of this research was to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating these residues as reinforcements in acomposite, through its physical-chemical analysis. The results were: particle size (0.425 -9.525 mm); bulk density (88-280kg/m3); surface structure rough and porous; moisture (4.75 -7.59%); non-degraded cellulose (23- 46%); cellulose degraded(18-33%), hemicelluloses (4-11%) and lignin (11-20%). It can be concluded that residues of barley, in general, can becontemplated as an option in the manufacture of composite materials.