Plants and Industry

PLANTS AND INDUSTRY

Read the following text at home. Be sure you understand the
COMPLETE TEXT; if not, ask questions to the teacher.
Then, underline or highlight the FIVE main ideas in the text (BE
SURE YOU INCLUDE THE IDEAS IN BOLD LETTERS).
INTRODUCTION.
Industry is the production of goods to improve the economy of a
country. The creation of industries started with the Industrial Revolution
during the XVIII and XIX century; Industrial revolution took place first in
England and then spread around the rest of Europe.
There are many types of industries but the text is going to focus in the
textile industry and cosmetic industry. In these types of industries, it is
common to use materials that come from plants to create the different
products.
In the case of the textile industry, plants such as esparto, cotton and
linen are the most commonly used in Spain. Recently, the Spanish textile
industry has improved its economy because the exportations have
increased; Spanish textile industry is known and appreciated all over the
world.
Besides, the cosmetic industry is also very popular in Spain. In this type of
industry the plants are also utilized, especially when producing perfumes
or soaps. In the last year (2015), Spanish cosmetic industry continued
innovating and exporting using many different types of plants. Some of
the most common plants used in cosmetic industry are: aloe vera,
vanilla, lavender, eucalyptus, cape chestnut or avocado.
The following texts are going to concentrate more in the textile and
cosmetic industry and referring to the plants that are
used in them to produce clothes, soaps and perfumes.

Plants and Industry

PLANTS AND INDUSTRY

Read the following text at home. Be sure you understand the
COMPLETE TEXT; if not, ask questions to the teacher.
Then, underline or highlight the FIVE main ideas in the text (BE
SURE YOU INCLUDE THE IDEAS IN BOLD LETTERS).
PLANTS USED IN TEXTILE INDUSTRY: FLAX
Many of the clothes we wear today are produced in the different textile
industries using fibers. The textile fibers are similar to thin threads that can
be artificial or natural. This text is going to be focused in textile fibers
which are naturally produced by plants. But all of them need to be
compressed in other to give clothes (jumpers, shirts).
There are around forty different textile fibers but the first plant discovered
to produce fibers was flax. In the past, flax was used by Egyptians,
Romans and Greeks for food, clothing and medicine. In the present, flax
fibers are compressed and give linen.
Flax fibers are very strong so they are usually used to create linen cloths,
tablecloths, bed sheets but they are very expensive. There are two
types of flax that produces linen: fiber flax and seed flax. It is cultivated in
countries such as France, Belgium, Spain, Russia and China. The best
conditions for flax to grow in those places are mild temperatures and
elevated humidity.
However, the first plant produced worldwide to get fibers in the present is
cotton because it is cheaper to grow and more elastic. But this could
change in the future because there are investigations to try to substitute
cotton

by

flax,

if

flax

is

transformed

in

softer

fiber.

Plants and Industry

PLANTS AND INDUSTRY

Read the following text at home. Be sure you understand the
COMPLETE TEXT; if not, ask questions to the teacher.
Then, underline or highlight the FIVE main ideas in the text (BE
SURE YOU INCLUDE THE IDEAS IN BOLD LETTERS).
PLANTS USED IN COSMETIC INDUSTRY Lecture 1
There are many examples of plants used to create cosmetic products.
This is because plants are a source of oils that can moisture human skin.
This text is going to describe some examples of plants used in the
cosmetic industry to produce soaps, creams, anti-aging products
One of the most interesting examples is Cape chestnut or Yangu oil,
which is used to produce soaps. This plant has been used in traditional
African culture for skincare. Many generations of African civilizations
have used Yangu oil as soap or shampoo because the oil contains lipids
that can moisture human skin. In addition, some parts Africa are
affected by high quantities of solar rays. For that reason, African people
also use Yangu oil frequently as it protects from ultraviolet rays.
Another example is the use of avocado oil for cosmetics. Avocado oil is
extracted from avocado fruit found in Mexico and other countries in
Central America. Avocado oil can be processed naturally or using
chemicals; but chemicals permit the production of this natural oil, as it
happens in the Yangu oil. The cosmetic properties avocado oil shows
are: smoother and moisturizer for the skin, used for acne treatment, antiaging and sun screen (protects from UVA rays).
To conclude, it has been shown in this text, plants can also be used to
extract oils for cosmetic use.

Plants and Industry

PLANTS AND INDUSTRY

Read the following text at home. Be sure you understand the
COMPLETE TEXT; if not, ask questions to the teacher.
Then, underline or highlight the FIVE main ideas in the text (BE
SURE YOU INCLUDE THE IDEAS IN BOLD LETTERS).
PLANTS USED IN COSMETIC INDUSTRY Lecture 2
Perfume is another product manufactured by the cosmetic industry.
However, in present times not everybody knows fragrances are made by
extracting the oils of different parts of plants.
Perfume has been used since the Egyptian civilisation until today with
one main function: to cover or mask the natural bad smell people have.
Apart from that, perfumes were also used a lot by the Romans, Greeks
and Arabs. Moreover, some examples of plants used in present times to
extract oils to produce perfume are roses, jasmin, lilies, lavender, orange
tree
The process of making a perfume starts by selecting the plant. Then, the
extraction of oils from the plant is carried out by different methods. The
oils can be extracted from the flower but also from the leaves, fruits,
seeds depending on the plant used. The third step is to mix the oils from
the plant with other elements. The basic composition of a perfume is:
extracted oil from the plant, alcohol and water. However, other
chemicals called fixatives may be incorporated in the perfume to avoid
the fragrance of evaporating too quickly. Fixatives are obtained from
synthetic compounds or mosses. Therefore, chemicals do not have a
bad effect because they can be added to the oils extracted from the
plant and give the perfume.