Uses of Bamboo Fibre

Bamboo shoots for sale

Culinary

The shoots (new bamboo culms that come out of the ground) of bamboo are edible. They are used in numerous Asian dishes and broths, and are available in supermarkets in various sliced forms, both fresh and canned version. The shoots of the giant bamboo (Cathariostachys madagascariensis) contain cyanide.

Despite this, the Golden Bamboo Lemur ingests many times the quantity of toxin that would kill a human. The bamboo shoot in its fermented state forms an important ingredient in cuisines across the Himalayas. In Assam, for example, it is called khorisa. In Nepal, a delicacy popular across ethnic boundaries consists of bamboo shoots fermented with turmeric and oil, and cooked with potatoes into a dish that usually accompanies rice (alu tama in Nepali).

In Indonesia, they are sliced thin and then boiled with santan (thick coconut milk) and spices to make a dish called gulai rebung. Other recipes using bamboo shoots are Sayur Lodeh (mixed vegetables in coconut milk) and lun pia (sometimes written lumpia: fried wrapped bamboo shoots with vegetables). The shoots of some species contain toxins that need to be leached or boiled out before they can be eaten safely.

Pickled bamboo, used as a condiment, may also be made from the pith of the young shoots. The sap of young stalks tapped during the rainy season may be fermented to make ulanzi (a sweet wine) or simply made into a soft drink. Bamboo leaves are also used as wrappers for steamed dumplings which usually contains glutinous rice and other ingredients.

In Sambalpur, India, the tender shoots are grated into juliennes and fermented to prepare kardi. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word for bamboo shoot, “karira”. This fermented bamboo shoot is used in various culinary preparations, notably “amil”, a sour vegetable soup. It is also made into pancakes using rice flour as a binding agent. The shoots that have turned a little fibrous are fermented, dried, and ground to sand sized particles to prepare a garnish known as “hendua”. It is also cooked with tender pumpkin leaves to make sag green leaves.

The empty hollow in the stalks of larger bamboo is often used to cook food in many Asian cultures. Soups are boiled and rice is cooked in the hollows of fresh stalks of bamboo directly over a flame. Similarly, steamed tea is sometimes rammed into bamboo hollows to produce compressed forms of Pu-erh tea. Cooking food in bamboo is said to give the food a subtle but distinctive taste.

In addition, bamboo is frequently used for cooking utensils within many cultures and used in the manufacture of chopsticks. In modern times, some see bamboo tools as an eco-friendly alternative to other manufactured utensils.

Medicine

Bamboo is used in Chinese medicine for treating infections and healing.

It is a low-calorie source of potassium. It is known for its sweet taste and as a good source of nutrients and protein.

In Ayurveda, the Indian system of traditional medicine, the silicious concretion found in the culms of the bamboo stem is called banslochan. It is known as tabashir or tawashir in Unani-Tibb the Indo-Persian system of medicine. In English it is called “bamboo manna”. This concretion is said to be a tonic for the respiratory diseases. It was earlier obtained from Melocanna bambusoides and is very hard to get. In most Indian literature, Bambusa arundinacea is described as the source of bamboo manna.

Construction

In its natural form, bamboo as a construction material is traditionally associated with the cultures of East Asia and the South Pacific, to some extent in Central and South America and by extension in the aesthetic of Tiki culture.

In China, bamboo was used to hold up simple suspension bridges, either by making cables of split bamboo or twisting whole culms of sufficiently pliable bamboo together. One such bridge in the area of Qian-Xian is referenced in writings dating back 960 A.D. and may have stood since as far back as the 3rd century B.C., due largely to continuous maintenance.

It has long been used as scaffolding; the practice has been banned in China for buildings over six storeys but is still in continuous use for skyscrapers in Hong Kong.

In the Philippines, the Nipa Hut is a fairly typical example of the most basic sort of housing that bamboo is used for; the walls are split and woven bamboo and bamboo slats and poles may be used as its support. In Japanese architecture, bamboo is used primarily as a supplemental and/or decorative element in buildings such as fencing, fountains, grates and gutters, largely due to the ready abundance of quality timber.

Various structural shapes may be made by training the bamboo to assume them as it grows. Squared sections of bamboo are created by compressing the growing stalk within a square form.

Arches may similarly be created by forcing the bamboo’s growth with the desired form and costs many times less than it would to assume the same shape in regular wood timber. More traditional forming methods such as the application of heat and pressure may also be used to curve or flatten the cut stalks.

Bamboo can be cut and lamiated into sheets and planks. This process involves cutting stalks into thin strips,plaining them flat, boiling and drying the strips which are then glued, pressed and finished.

Generally long used in China and Japan, entrepreneurs started developing and selling laminated bamboo flooring in the West during the mid 1990s; products made from bamboo laminate including flooring, cabinetry, furniture and even decorative use are currently surging in popularity, transitioning from the boutique market to mainstream providers such as Home Depot. The bamboo goods industry (which also includes small goods, fabric, etc.) is expected to be worth $25 billion by the year 2012.

The quality of bamboo laminate varies between manufacturers and the maturity of the plant from which it was harvested (6 years being considered the optimum); the sturdiest products fulfill their claims of being up to three times harder than oak hardwood but others may be softer than standard hardwood.

Bamboo intended for use in construction should be treated to resist insects and rot. The most common solution for this purpose is a mixture of borax and boric acid. Another process involves boiling cut bamboo in order to remove the starches that attract bugs.

Bamboo has been used as reinforcement for concrete in those areas where it is plentiful, though dispute exists over its effectiveness in the various studies done on the subject. Bamboo does have the necessary strength to fulfil this function, but untreated bamboo will swell from the absorption of water from the concrete, causing it to crack. Several procedures must be followed to overcome this shortcoming.

Several institutes, businesses, and universities are working on the bamboo as an ecological construction material. In the United States and France, it is possible to get houses made entirely of bamboo, which are earthquake and cyclone-resistant and internationally certified. In Bali Indonesia there is an International primary school, named the Green School which is constructed entirely of bamboo, due to its beauty, and advantages as a sustainable resource. There are three ISO standards for bamboo as a construction material.

In parts of India, bamboo is used (- apart from common uses like making ladders, which in addition to all other uses for ladders are also used for carrying bodies in funerals -) for drying clothes indoors, both as the rod high up near the ceiling to hang clothes on as well as the stick that is wielded with acquired expert skill to hoist, spread, and to take down the clothes when dry. In Maharashtra the bamboo groves and forests are called VeLuvana, the name VeLu for Bamboo most likely from Sanskrit, while Vana is forest.

Furthermore, bamboo is also used to create flagpoles for saffron coloured, Hindu religious flags, which can be seen fluttering across India, especially Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, as well as in Guyana and Suriname.

Textiles

Because the fibers of bamboo are very short (less than 3mm), they are impossible to transform into yarn in a natural process.

The usual process by which textiles labeled as being made of bamboo are produced uses only the rayon, that is being made out of the fibers with heavy employment of chemicals. To accomplish this, the fibers are broken down with chemicals and extruded through mechanical spinnerets; the chemicals include lye, carbon disulfide and strong acids.

Retailers have sold both end products as “bamboo fabric” to cash in on bamboo’s current eco-friendly cachet, however the Canadian Competition Bureau and the US Federal Trade Commission, as of mid-2009, are cracking down on the practice of labeling bamboo rayon as natural bamboo fabric. Under the guidelines of both agencies these products must be labeled as rayon with the optional qualifier “from bamboo”. Bamboo fabric is known for its softness and boasts strong absorbency and anti-microbial properties, though the chemical process in bamboo rayon destroys and anti-microbial quality.

Musical instruments

Bamboo’s natural hollow form makes it an obvious choice for many instruments, particularly wind and percussion. There are numerous types of bamboo flute made all over the world, such as the dizi, xiao, shakuhachi, palendag, jinghu.

In India it is a very popular and highly respected musical instrument, available even to the poorest and the choice of many highly venerated maestros of classical music. It is known and revered above all as the divine flute forever associated with Lord Krishna, who is always portrayed holding a bansuri in sculptures and paintings.

The Bamboo Organ of Las Piñas, Philippines has pipes made of bamboo culms. Four of the instruments used in Polynesia for traditional hula are made of bamboo: nose flute, rattle, stamping pipes and the Jew’s harp.

Bamboo may be used in the construction of the Australian didgeridoo instead of the more traditional eucalyptus wood.

In Indonesia, bamboo has been used for making various kinds of musical instruments including the kolintang and the angklung. The modern amplified string instrument the Chapman Stick is also constructed using bamboo. The khene (also spelled “khaen”, “kaen” and “khen”) is a mouth organ of Lao origin whose pipes, which are usually made of bamboo, are connected with a small, hollowed-out hardwood reservoir into which air is blown, creating a sound similar to that of the violin.

In the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, the valiha, a long tube zither made of a single bamboo stalk, is considered the national instrument.

Water processing

Bamboo as a versatile material is demonstrated by its use in water desalination.

A Bamboo filter is used to remove the salt from saltwater.

Transportation

Several manufacturers offer bamboo bicycles.

Clothing

Bamboo as a fabric is a new process developed at the Beijing University in 2001. In the past several years the process has been improved upon and has created an interest in bamboo clothing, particularly those interested in using organic material. Clothing from bamboo is soft and comparable to cashmere.

Bamboo has natural antibacterial and antifungal qualities that help the plant fight off disease and insects. These properties come from a naturally occurring substance in bamboo called kun. Because these qualities are not lost during processing or washing, bamboo fabrics are able to retain these qualities and do not hold odors like some fabrics do.

Landscaping

Bamboo is widely used in landscaping due to its ability to grow quickly in thick, tall sections. It makes an excellent privacy barrier, while also providing a nice aesthetic.