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Historically, for fiber extraction, the stems were immersed in water. However, this method proved far too polluting, leading to its substitution by the dew-retting method in the field. Different retting processes and durations can produce significant differences in hemp stems and fiber characteristics. Both dew- and water-retting methods were carried out on the Santhica 27 cultivar in Eastern France in 2020. An analysis of the stem chemical composition and characteristics has been performed to observe the stem degradation during retting for both methods. Secondly, the analyses of the fiber chemical composition, color, morphological and mechanical properties have been performed to evaluate the impact of retting on the fiber quality. The effect of the retting on the stem and the fiber is observed after 1 week for water-retting and after 4 weeks for dew-retting. For dew-retting, the percentages of fine fiber and cellulose in the fiber bundle increase after 1 week, while the stem chemical composition decreases. Unlike in the dew-retting, the percentage of fine fiber and cellulose in the fiber bundle increases after 4 weeks, while the potassium percentage in the stem, fiber brightness, and fiber tenacity and strain decrease. Finally, after 8 weeks, the fiber properties were found to be similar for both methods.
Decker et al. (Fri,) studied this question.