The Difference of Black Petung Bamboo Quality (Dendrocalamus asper cult. black) Propagated by Culm and Rhizome Cuttings at Three Years Old

The differenee of black Petung bamboo quality (Dendrocalunus asberc.v. 'black') propagated by culm and rhizome cuttinEs at three years old

Wawan SuJenwo, I.B.K. Annese and I.N. PBNBNc

'Eka Karya" Bali Botanic Garden - Indonesian Institute of Sciences GfPf)

Candikuning, Baturiti, Tabancin, Bali, Indonesia 82191

e-mail: w-sujarwo@yahoo. co. id; wawan. [email protected]

BAMBOO JOURNALNo. 28 March 2012

JAPAN BAMBOO FOUNDATION . JAPAN BAMBOO SOCIETY

l l

Bamboo Journal No.28 : II-2I,2012

EfrN+f.E

The difference of black Petung bamboo quality (Dendrocalamus asberc.v. 'black') propagated by culm and rhizome cuttings at three years old

Wawan SuJenwo,I.B.K. AnNese and I.N. PoNBNc

'Eka Karya" Bali Botanic Garden - Indonesian Institute of Sciences QIPI)" Candikuning, Baturiti, Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia 82191

e-mail: w-sujarwo@yahoo. co.id; wawan. [email protected]

Abstract

An increasing demand, the higher prices and scarcity of wood in the market may cause the

craft industry to search other raw materials than wood. Bamboos must be the raw materials

that can be used as building construction and handicrafts industry with abundant potency.

Black betang bamboo (Dendrocalamus asrter (Schult) Backer ex Heyne c.v. 'black' is one of

bamboos, which is widely used to support the craft industry. This study aims to determine the

quality of black fetung bamboo propagated by culm and rhizome cuttings, based on chemical

properties as fiber content, ash content and starch content and physical properties as moisture

content, specific gravity and shrinkage ratio T/R. The qualities for chemical and physical

properties of black betung bamboo indicated to be 60.857o-67.130/o in culm cutting propagation

and 61.340/o-62.730/o in rhizome cutting propagation by fiber content, 2.90o/o-4.52o/o in culm

cutting propagation and, 4.19o/o-5.387o in rhizome cutting propagation by ash content, 6.320/o -

8.17o/oin culm cutting propagation and7.620/o - 8.llo/o in rhizome cutting propagation by starch

content, 9.27o/o-10.17%o in culm cutting propagation and. 9.84o/o-10.387o in rhizome cutting

propagation by moisture content,0.508-0.607 in culm cutting propagation and 0.491-0.567 in

rhizome cutting propagation by specific gravity, 0.289-0.9030/o in culm cutting propagation and

0.253-1.0470/o in rhizome cutting propagation by shrinkage ratio (T/R). Black betung bamboo

propagated by culm cutting has a better quality than that by rhizome cutting, according to the

test results for chemical and physical properties.

Keywords: Dendrocalamus asfer c.v. 'black', propagation, chemical properties, physical

properties, bamboo industry

l. IntroductionIn Indonesia, especially in rural areas, bamboo is widely used as building material. The

reasons why a bamboo can be used, is a bamboo is very popular plant and the culm is straight,

strong and hardness with high level, although relatively light in weight, easy to be propagated

u"n6 ,"our.". a short time to reach maturity, available in abundant amounts. Then, a bamboo

can grow with a large range on sizes and easy in the processing and the price is relatively

cheap and easily enhanced durability in a simple way.

The existence of forest product industries, especially wood processing is currently facing to

a tough challenge. An increasing of wood demand, the higher prices and scarcity of wood in

the market may cause the craft industry to search other raw materials than wood. As the raw

materials that can be used for building construction and handicrafts industry, bamboo must

be with abundant potency. The species of bamboo are very diverse, in Indonesia there are

approximately 110 species of bamboo (Dransfield and Widjaja 1995). One species of bamboos as

widely used to support the craft industry is betung bamboo (Dendrocallamus as\er).

petung bamboo has some cul t ivars and one of them is the black cul t ivar, which is

Dendrocalamus asfer (Schult) Backer ex Heyne c.v. 'black' called Black betung bamboo in this

repod. Due to the reason of this bamboo to be used by the induitry as craft raw materials, this

study aims to determine the quality of black betung bamboo propagated by culm cutting and

rhizome cutting methods, based on chemical properties as fiber content, ash content and starch

content and physical properties as moisture content, specific gravity and shrinkage. Chemical

and physical properties are basic quality that can be used for the industry as a consideration to

produce high quality of craft products.

This study used black fietung bamboo that was three years old, resulted by the Nursery

of the Bali Botanic Garden where is then planted in the bamboo compartment inside the

garden. The habitat of the Bali Botanic Garden is dry climates with altitude of 1200 m above

sea level. Black betung bamboo was propagated by using culm and rhizome cuttings' Based

on observations in their habitat, rhizome cutting propagation indicated a fairly rapid growth

compared with the propagation of culm cutting. On the other hand, there is a hypothesis about

the rapid growth of plants does not provide a good quality as well. This study was conducted to

compare the quality of black betung bamboo, propagated by culm and rhizome cuttings, so that

can be known the results and provide input to bamboo craft industry'

2. Materials and methods

The study was conducted at April to October 2010 in several places including Bamboo

Compartment of Bali Botanic Garden, Herbarium of Bali Botanic Garden and Laboratory of

Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Udayana. For propagation by culm cuttings, the

best mother plant for propagation is a culm which has produced shoots twice or is 2 years old

(Dransfield and Widjaja 1995) whilst for propagation by rhizome cuttings or offsets, one and

two year old culms are use. They are cut at least at 0.3 m, and the culm with the attached

rhizomes is separated from the mother plant and planted either directly in the field during

rainy season or first in the nursery (Lantican et al. 1987; Vongvijitra 1990).

The research materials are two culms of black betung bamboo those which are one culm

l3

Picture L black betung bamboopropagated by culm cutting

Picture 2. black Petungbamboopropagated by rhizome cutting

from culm cutting propagation and the other from rhizome cutting propagation. Samples for

parameters testing were taken from each bamboo culms by dividing into three parts, namely

bottom, middle and top. Every part of the bottom, middle and top were cut again into three

parts, which each part will serve as replications in the qualitl. testing, as shown at the Table

l. The tested parameters consist of the chemical propertres as fiber content, ash content and

starch content and the physical properties as moisture content, specific gravity and shrinkage

ratio T/R (eOeC 1970; ASTM 1985).

Table 1. Design of research sampling

lst repetition lst repetition

Bottom 2nd repetition Bottom 2nd repetition

3rd repetition3rd repetition

Middle 2nd repetition

3rd repetition

lst repetition lst repetition

Top 2nd repetition Top 2nd repetition

3rd repetition3rd repetition

3. Results and discussionsThe quality testing of black betung bamboo propagated by culm cutting propagation and

rhizome cutting propagation consist of chemical properties (fiber content, ash content and

starch content) and physical properties (moisture content, specific gravity and shrinkage ratio

T/R), The average value of chemical and physical properties are presented in Table 2.

Table 2.Results of qualities (chemical and physical properties) of black betung bamboo

Black fetungbamboo

(Culm cuttingpropagation)

lst repetition

Middle 2nd repetition

3rd repetition

Black letung bamboo(Rhizome cutting

propagation)

lst repetition

t4

Table 2. Results of qualities (chemical and physical properties) of black betung bamboo

SpeciesParts of Fiber Ash Starch Moisture e^^^i€^Oif,lf content content content content

#;;i,"

Shrinkageratio T,/R

\0,6)

Black petung bamboo(propagated by culm

cutting)

Bottom 61.95 4.52 7.62 10.17 0.556 0.903Middle 67.13 4.08 0.3960.5089.536.32

Top 6085 2.W 8.t7 9.27 0.607 0.289

Black petung bamboo(propagated by

rhizome cutting)

Bottom 61.50 5.38 8.11 10.38 0.567 1.047Middle 62.73 4.2r 7.62 10.16 0.519 0.843

Top 61.34 4.19 7.87 9.84 0.491 0.253

3.1 Fiber content

Fiber is a glucose polymer composed of straight chains of I.4- 0 -elucose anhydride units

(Rowell 1984). Fiber content may affect the strength (hardness) of bamboo so that a high fiber

content of bamboo strongly supports the use of bamboo as raw material for pulp and paper

and building construction (Sjostrom 1998). Fiber content in dry matter of woody species is

estimated at 40-50o/o (Panshin and de Zeeaw 1980). The results indicated that the fiber content

of black petung bamboo propagated by culm and rhizome cuttings exceeds 50o/o. In this study,

the fiber content was obtained ranging from 60.850lo - 67.l3Vo (culm cutting propagation) and

6L.34o/o - 62.730/o (rhizome cutting propagation), as shown at Fig.l.

70 -,

65,

60

Bottom Middle

a culm cutting prcpagation 61.95 67.13

61.5 61.34E rhizome cutting prcpagation 61 .5 62.73 61.3462.73

Parts of Bamboo Culm

Fig. I Fiber content of black Petung bamboo

Fibers in bamboos are grouped in bundles and sheaths around the vessels. The epidermal

walls consist of an outer and inner layer; the latter of which is hiehly lignified. Fiber length and

fiber width varies within one internode (Liese and Grosser 1972).Fiber percentage is higher in

the outer one- third of the wall and in the upper part of the culm, contributing to its superior

slenderness (Grosser and Liese 1971). The percentage of fibers increases from the bottom to

the top of the culm (Seema and Kumar 1992).

The results of this study indicated that the fiber content of black fietung bamboo propagated

by culm cutting showed a higher percentage than black betung bamboo propagated by rhizome

cutting, due to the water absorption of black betung bamboo propagated by culm cutting is

lower, so that formed the fiber content is higher rather than black hetung bamboo propagated

trg

dEo*lt

55

by rhizome cutting. This is appropriate with the results of moisture content in this ,,td". Th;,

study revealed that the fiber content of black fietung bamboo propagated by culm cutting has a

better quality than black fetung bamboo propagated by rhizome cutting, although the difference

is not too large, the results of this study can be recommended for the bamboo industry, when

the use of bamboo based on the strength (hardness), so the use of black Petung bamboo

propagated by culm cutting is appropriate to be used.

3.2 Ash content

The test of ash content aims to determine the content of inorganic materials of black petung

bamboo after burned at high temperatures. The ash content indicated the existence of residue

that remains after the burning process. Inorganic minerals consist of Ca, K, Mg, Zn, Cu, Cr and

a little Na, Mn, Fe and Al (Rowell 1984). Minerals are mainly derived from several of deposited

salt on the cells walls and cavities. If high ash content was found, the main component

dominates, that is silica. Silica is many contained in bark of bamboo, the higher of silica content

may cause the tensile strength of bamboo stronger. The ash content was obtained ranging from

2.90o/o - 4.52o/o (culm cutting propagation) and 4.I9o/o - 5.38o/o (rhizome cutting propagation), as

shown at Fig.2.

6 r ' '

4f '

2. '

Bottom Middle

4.08 2.9

4.194.21

Parts of Bamboo Culms

Fig. 2 Ash content of black Petung bamboo

The results of this study indicated that the ash content of black petung bamboo propagated by

culm cutting showed a lower percentage than the black fietung bamboo propagated by rhizome

cutting, due to rhizome that includes roots is a plant part that has the inorganic content is

highest among the other plant parts such as stems, branches or leaves. Rhizome is a part of

plants that have direct contact with soil nutrients, soil nutrients which most of its components

is an inorganic material. In addition, it also influences higher ash content at the bottom than

the top of bamboo culm. The results revealed that black petung bamboo propagated by rhizome

cutting have a better quality than black petung bamboo propagated by culm cutting, if seen

from the quality of the tensile strength.

str.9troo

o

Top

a culm cutting prcpagation

16

3.3 Starch content

Starch is an organic material in plants that have low molecule weight and soluble in organic

solvents (Fengel and Wegener 1995). The test aims to determine starch content which is

contained in the black betung bamboo. The results testing of starch content are very important

for the use of black betung bamboo as a craft material. The higher starch content that is

contained in bamboo (post harvest) may cause bamboo easily attacked by powder beetle so

that the quality of the bamboo crafts will decline. Generally, plants from the tropics contain

morestarch (107o) thanintemperateclimateareas (57o) (Brown etal. IgS2).Inthisstudy,the

starch content was obtained ranging 6rom6.32Vo - 8.17o/o (culm cutting propagation) and,7.620/o

- 8.llo/o (rhizome cutting propagation), as shown at Fig.3.

Bottom Middle Top

| 9!4: utt,ls ptopgg at iorln hizomellllng propg 4to!

Parts of Bamboo Culm

Fig. 3 Starch content of black Petung bamboo

There is a tendency that the starch content decreased from the bottom to the top of the

tree (Browning 1967; Panshin and de Zeeuw 1980). The results revealed that there is no much

different within parts of bamboo culm, because the bamboo is still young and stored starch has

been translocated to the new shoots to produce their rapid growth (Miles el al. 2007).

The results of this study indicated that the total average of starch content of black betung

bamboo propagated by culm cutting showed a lower percentage than the black betung bamboo

propagated by rhizome cutting. Rhizome cutting is propagation material derived from the

bottom part of the plant, so that may cause a higher starch content compared to the bamboo

propagated by culm cutting. Basically, the results revealed that there was no large difference

between the bamboos were propagated by culm and rhizome cuttings, and for bamboo

industries are still suggested to use black betung bamboo propagated by culm cutting because

it has a smaller starch content for the purpose of crafting materials'

3.4 Moisture content

The moisture content is defined as the amount of water in woody vegetation which is

expressed as a percentage of water from the kiln dry weight (Haygreen and Bowyer 1989). The

cgtroo.JIE

v,

7.62

a.t t6.32

7.62

8.17

7.87

moisture content is very high in the center of the stem and lower at the edges. The moisture

content also increased from the bottom to the top of the stem, in case of trees (Kyokong et al'

1g91; Prayitno 1991). Results of research on black betung bamboo revealed an opposite results,

where moisture content tends to decline from the bottom to the top of the culm, because the

stomata structures between the bamboo and the tree is quite different, where the existence

of stomata in bamboo is quite a bit so that water is more concentrated at the bottom than the

top of the culm. On the other hand, may also be seen from the visual appearance, where the

bottom of the bamboo is wet than at the top. In this study, the water content was obtained

ranging Irom 9.27o/o - !0.!7o/o (culm cutting propagation) and 9.847o -10.38Vo (thizome cutting

propagation), as shown at Fig.4.

10.5(

10 i"'

g.5 !'"

g -" '

8.5

3 culm c utting prcpagation 10.17 9.53

g rhizome cutting propagation 10.38 10.16

Parts of Bamboo Gulm

Fig. 4 Moisture content of black Petung bamboo

The moisture content is significantly influential on specific gravity' shrinkage ratio (T/R)

and strength. The higher moisture content may cause the quality of bamboo to make it decline,

for instance higher moisture content will ease the bamboo has a higher shrinkage, where may

reduce its strength because the lumen and cell walls are still filled with water and also allows

having decay. The results of this study indicated that the total average of moisture content of

black rtetung bamboo propagated by culm cutting showed a lower percentage than the black

petung bamboo propagated by rhizome cutting, which can be recommended for players in

the bamboo industry is to use black betung bamboo propagated by culm cutting rather than

rhizome cutting, although differences in moisture content between them is not too big'

3.5 Specific gravity

Specific gravity is the ratio between the mass of an object with volume. The weight of woody

vegetation is depending on the cell cavity, moisture content and extractive substances in it.

Weight of a type of woody vegetation is directly proportional to its density. In general, the

higher of bamboo specific gravity is more weight and getting stronger as well. Fransz (1997)

mentioned that Caryota rumphiana which is also a monocot plant has the highest density at

"S5g

E5OE=6

o

,'T

18

the bottom and the lowest at the top. This is appropriate with the results of this study, where

specific gravity tends to decrease from the bottom to the top of the culm, because the cavity

structure and cell wall of black betung bamboo at the bottom has thickened (lignifications) so

that its density becomes higher. In this study, the specific gravity was obtained ranging from

0.508 - 0.607 (culm cutting propagation) and 0.491 - 0.567 (rhizome cutting propagation), as

shown at Fig.5.

0.8 -.'

Bottom Middle

tcutm cutttlg vop3gatiol i 0 5!91e20e! _0.508t053803 0 60Ys231:

arhylgmecqlltnqroPgggtio! ].5q!0827 0.51e14e47e o491ry7

Parts of Bamboo Gulm

Fig. 5 Specific gravity of black Petung bamboo

The results of this study indicated that the total average of specific gravity of black Petung

bamboo propagated by culm cutting showed a higher percentage than black rtetung bamboo

propagated by rhizome cutting due to black fietung bamboo propagated by culm cutting has

a higher fiber content and lower moisture content so that its specific gravity becomes higher.

Basically, the results of specific gravity revealed that there was no difference between bamboo

propagated by culm and rhizome cuttings, so that it can be concluded for the use of bamboo

which is based on the strength, the black fietung bamboo propagated by culm and rhizome

cuttings has similar qualities.

3.6 Shrinkage ratio (T/R)

Basically nearly all woody vegetations have hygroscopic properties that can catch and

release water according to the surrounding temperature and air humidity. Due to these effects

cause the wood is having shrinkage and swelling. In the radial direction, black betung bamboo

shrink and swell of about 9.614 - 23.244o/o by culm cutting propagation and 16.739 - 20.409o/o

by rhizome cutting propagation, while in the tangential direction is about 2.777 - 20.9860/o by

culm cutting propagation and 4.396 - 21.3620/o by rhizome cutting propagation. Based on the

classification of shrinkage direction of the wet conditions to air dry, black petung bamboo by

both culm cutting and rhizome cutting propagations had the same range of high shrinkage in

the radial and tangential directions, as shown at Fig.6.

The results of this study indicated that the total average of shrinkage ratio (T/R) of black

aE 0.62 o.o'E 0.2CLoo

Top

19

1.5':s

OL

Pa I ': -.=cE .9, o.s'( , t

t

Boftom Middle

0-396

Top

t culm cutting propagation 0.903 02w0.253"E thizome cutting propagation 1-047 0.843

Parts of Bamboo Culm

Fig. 6 Shrinkage ratio (T/R) of black Petung bamboo

fietung bamboo propagated by culm cutting showed a lower percentage than the black betung

bamboo propagated by rhizome cutting, due to black betung bamboo propagated by rhizome

cutting has a high moisture content so that it causes a higher shrinkage. Burgess (1966)

mentioned that the shrinkage ratio (T/R) is below 0.5%, including a low category, while 0.5

- 2.5o/o is including middle category. In this research, the shrinkage ratio (tZn) was obtained

ranging from 0.289 - 0.9037o by culm cutting propagation and 0.253 - I.047%o by rhizome cutting

propagation, so black betung bamboo (both culm cutting and rhizome cutting propagations) had

a high dimensional stability (Abdurachman and Hadjib 2001).

4. ConclusionsFrom the study, it could be concluded as following

1. The black fetung bamboo propagated by culm cutting has a better quality than the

black betung bamboo propagated with rhizome cutting, based on the chemical and physical

properties.

2. The results of this study may answer the hypothesis that the rapid growth of black Petung

bamboo propagated by rhizome cutting does not necessarily provide good quality as well.

3. For industry players in bamboo craft, it can be recommended to use black fetung bamboo

propagated by culm cutting rather than rhizome cutting.

5. AcknowledgementWe would like to thank Dr. Cliff Sussman from the American Bamboo Society who gave

correction in English. He has also kindly and critically read this manuscript.

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