The sum of the percentage of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin to the TSH corresponds to 99.5% of the total dry matter, there- fore the purification not only removed hemicelluloses and lignin but also other components such as proteins, extractives and ash. The purification process was effective so the composition of TSH is suitable for the extraction of whiskers. It was verified that the percentage of mass consumption of the main components of the SH due to the purification process was 19.3, 78.3 and 56.0% for