Today, the paper industry is faced with a global deficiency of raw wood materials, so alternative sources of virgin cellulose fibres are playing an important role in paper production. Agricultural countries produce large quantities of crop farming by-products such as straw, which is an interesting alternative raw material for cellulose fibres. Straw is used in many industries because of its numerous advantages: animal food industry, biofuel industry, construction industry and as artistic material. The potential use of straw production residues is of great importance in paper and printing industry. The focus of this research is on triticale straw, which was used as a non-wood fibre source for paper production. Namely, triticale straw was converted into semi-chemical pulp and was combined with recycled wood pulp in order to produce alternative laboratory papers. The usability of this kind of laboratory papers in printing industry was analysed based on line reproduction quality. This research evaluated and analysed line reproduction quality based on four line attributes: width, blurriness and raggedness. The results of this research proved that triticale pulp in laboratory papers has equal influence on line printing quality as the recycled wood pulp.

Nowadays, there is a strong initiative to use recycled or biodegradable materials in all aspects of production including the graphic industry. In this study, paper was used as a material fulfilling the two of mentioned properties. Under laboratory conditions, papers were made of 70% pulp from recycled wood fibres with an addition of 30% straw pulp (wheat, barley or triticale). Considering the importance of the possibility of printing such media based on their end use, the influence of fibre type on vapour barrier properties was studied and overall migration to hydrophilic and fatty food simulants was measured. Analyses were performed on digital, flexographic, and offset prints obtained by printing laboratory papers with UV-curable black ink. It was found that prints produced using the offset technique, in which the ink remains on the surface of the paper, had lower overall levels of migration compared to other printing techniques. The paper produced appears to have the potential to be used as a secondary food packaging material.

In the papermaking industry, cellulose fibers often undergo a bleaching process which affects the surface of the fibers, or their overall morphology. The surface of the produced paper, which is most often used as a printing substrate, depends on the production method, the arrangement of the cellulose fibers, and the quantity and fineness of the filler. The micro-irregularities caused by the uneven distribution of fibers and surface particles of the filler make the paper’s surface rough and affect the print quality and its stability when exposed to light from the moment of production to use. The unbleached cellulose fibers in the printing substrate contain natural pigments, lignin and hemicellulose that absorb UV radiation, as opposed to bleached fibers, which have higher whiteness and lightfastness. Therefore, the influence of UV radiation on the surface roughness of prints made on papers with natural unbleached and bleached hemp fibers was analyzed. This research confirmed that papers formed from unbleached fibers have rougher surface and that printed graphic products from bleached fibers have higher stability to UV radiation than those from natural, unbleached hemp fibers after 96 h of treatment in the Suntest chamber.