Sains Malaysiana 39(4)(2010): 571–579

Anatomical and Physical Properties of Cultivated Two- and Four-year-old Bambusa vulgaris

(Sifat-sifat Anatomi dan Fizikal Bambusa vulgaris yang Ditanam pada Umur Dua dan Empat Tahun)

Razak Wahab¹*, Mohd Tamizi Mustapa², Othman Sulaiman³,

Aminuddin Mohamed¹, Affendy Hassan¹ & Izyan Khalid¹

¹School of International Tropical Forestry

Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88999 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

²Forest Product Technology Division

Forest Research Institute Malaysia, 52109 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

³School of Industrial Technology

Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia

Received: 16 September 2009 / Accepted: 2 December 2009

ABSTRACT

Cultivated Bambusa vulgaris of two and four-year old were harvested and studied for their anatomy and physical properties. The anatomy properties between the two age-group of bamboo were observed to have some degrees of variation. This showed that the bamboo anatomy structure has strong correlation with age. The frequency of vascular bundles was greater at the bottom and top portion than in the middle portion of both age-groups. There was no difference in vessel diameter between the two and four-year old culms at the middle of the culms wall thickness. The cell’s wall thickness of both parenchyma and fibre were greater in the 4 year-old than in the 2 year-old culms. In the physical aspect, basic density was found to be higher in the 4 year-old culms than in the 2 year-old by 5 to 8%, and increases from lower to upper internodes showing that there is a maturing process going on between the two age-group relative to the tissue type that they possess.

Keywords: Anatomy and physical properties; Bambusa vulgaris; cultivated bambo; two age-group culms

ABSTRAK

Kulma dua kumpulan umur, dua dan empat tahun, Bambusa vulgaris yang ditanam telah dituai dan dikaji ciri-ciri fizikal dan anatominya. Sifat-sifat anatomi menunjukkan wujudnya perbezaan antara kedua-dua kumpulan umur buluh ini. Ini menunjukkan struktur anatomi berkait rapat dengan umur buluh. Frekuensi berkas vaskular lebih banyak terdapat pada bahagian pangkal dan pucuk daripada bahagian tengah bagi kedua-dua umur buluh. Tidak terdapat perbezaan daripada segi saiz diameter liang bagi kedua-dua umur di bahagian tengah ketebalan buluh. Ketebalan dinding bagi kedua sel parenkima dan serat lebih besar pada buluh 4 tahun berbanding dengan buluh 2 tahun. Daripada aspek fizikal, nilai ketumpatan asas didapati lebih tinggi pada buluh berumur 4 tahun dibandingkan buluh 2 tahun dengan kelebihan antara 5 hingga 8%, dan meningkat daripada bahagian bawah ke bahagian atas ruas yang menunjukkan berlakunya proses kematangan antara kedua-dua kumpulan umur buluh relatif terhadap jenis-jenis tisu yang dimiliki.

Kata kunci: Bambusa vulgaris; buluh tanam; kulma dua kumpulan umur; sifat-sifat anatomi dan fizikal

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*Corresponding author; email: drrazakw@ums.edu.my