Authors:M. Awotwe Mensah . S. J. Mitchual . E. Appiah-Kubi . M. B. Donkoh
Abstract:This study sought to compare the differences between the morphological and physical properties of juvenile and matured Bambusa vulgaris culms and the utilization potential of the culms. Two and four-year old Bambusa vulgaris culms were harvested and prepared to the length of twenty-one internodes. The first seven internodes were taken as bottom, the second seven internodes were taken as middle and the last seven internodes were considered as the top. Samples were taken from the bottom and top for all tests conducted for the study. The morphological properties such as the internode length, internode diameter and culm thickness were determined with the use of steel tape measure and digital caliper, whilst the physical properties including basic density and moisture content were determined in accordance with ISO 13061-2 and EN 13183-1 respectively. The study showed that, the internode length, diameter and culm thickness of juvenile were statistically different from matured culm. The moisture content increased from the bottom portion to top portion for both juvenile and matured culms. Basic density was found to be higher in the matured culm sections than in the juvenile and in some cases by 19% and 42%. Basic density decreased from bottom to top of the culm height. Generally, the mature culm possessed better morphological and physical properties than that of the juvenile culm and these could improve the utilization potential of Bambusa vulgaris species.
Keywords:Bambusa vulgaris, juvenile, matured, morphology, physical properties