Influence of Solvent Treatment on Mould Resistance of Bamboo

Bamboo timber is very vulnerable to mould fungi, a characteristic that is attributed to the rich sugar, starch, and protein present in bamboo. Solvents including cold water, hot water, benzene/ethanol, ethanol/ether, 1% NaOH, and 1% HCl can dissolve corresponding components from bamboo, which might be helpful to the resistance of bamboo against mould fungi. In order to study the relationship between surface nutrition and mildew of bamboo, mould resistances of bamboo blocks treated with different solvents were tested in the laboratory and field. Results showed that bamboo treated with cold water, hot water, benzene/ethanol or ethanol/ether had almost the same resistances with the controls against mould fungi, and the surfaces became covered with mycelium within 10 days in laboratory tests, and 5 weeks in field tests. 1% NaOH and 1% HCl were helpful to the mould resistance of bamboo, of which, 1% HCl treatments behaved the best, especially in the field tests.