Bioprocessing of bamboo materials

• Author(s): Xingqun Zhang ; Jiajia Fu ; Paulo, Artur Cavaco ; Chongwen Yu ; Guebitz, G. M.
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/22598
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Bamboo; Retting; Fiber bundles; Microorganisms
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

Bamboo culms were processed using microorganisms, and fibre bundles were obtained. Bacteria and fungi with xylanase activity were isolated from the bamboo retting system. Chemical composition analysis of the fibre bundles obtained showed that the components are mainly cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. An increase in cellulose and hemicelluloses content was detected along with a decrease in lignin content after bio-processing. Envi-ronmental Scanning Electronic Microcopy of the fibre bundles (retted) showed great fibre sensibility towards moisture, which could significantly influence mechanical properties. Our results suggested that the bio-processing presented herein contributes to the possible development of a new means of bamboo bio-processing that can be regarded as a primary process to separate fibre bundles from non-cellulosic tissue in the culm.