Throughout generations, research on natural fiber-reinforced composites (NFRCs) has been growing and yielding promising results. The notion of blending natural fibers with polymers comes from the composite’s suitable properties, not limited to low density, availability at a low price, biodegradability, and environmental friendliness. The quest for high-performing and marketable NFRCs is driving innovation in the synthesis of such materials. A suitable combination of parameters that optimizes the mechanical and functional properties of the composites without increasing the cost of production is desired. The main objective of this review is to evaluate some of the parameters that influence the behavior and properties of NFRCs. The influence of alkaline modification and natural fiber processing parameters, such as particle size, modification concentration, soaking duration, processing temperature, fiber-to-polymer ratio, and adoption of additives, on composites are discussed. This review summarizes some of the work and provides some directions in the search of an all-around performing economic NFRC.

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The water absorption, chemical resistance and biological properties are contributing factors to the overall performance of bio-composites, especially for outdoor applications. The functional properties of bio-composites are dependent on the interfacial bonding mechanism, which is controlled by the surface modification and processing parameters of natural fibers. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the potential of enhancing the mukwa/polylactide (mukwa/PLA) interface through an economic and ecological surface modification of recycled mukwa wood fibers via alkali-laccase modification. The fabricated biocomposites intended for making durable farm poles for semi-arid conditions of Southern Africa were characterised via water absorption, chemical resistance, thickness swelling, hardness and thermal properties. Less thickness swelling and water absorption were found on the alkali-laccase/PLA composites. The less-dense (1.09 g/cm 3 ) alkali-laccase treated composites showed better chemical resistance.Much swelling of the composites was observed on the 40% nitric acid (HNO3), while 60%NaOH shrunk the composites and PLA by <3.5%. The laccase/PLA biocomposite showed a maximum thermal stability of 733 ˚C. The activation energy (Ea) optimised on the laccase/PLA composite with the highest of 104 kJ mol -1 .Maximum crystallinity of 45.8% was achieved on the untreated/PLA composites.The alkali-laccase modification maximised the hardness of composites with 35.45 HV on alkali-laccase/PLA.