Soaking

January 30, 2007

We have tried three different methods of treatment. The first one shown above is the traditional treatment method where bamboo are soaked for 4-12 weeks on a running or muddy stagnant water. Bamboo contains starch solution which is suceptible to bacteria, but since starch is soluble in water, it gets diluted or washed out with this method. Many argue this process does not totally work because the vascular bundles (through which starch travel) is axial the outer layer of bamboo has a thick impegranable silica layer, thus water can not get to the inner cells of bamboo. Nevertheless, this is the one of the most prominent traditional methods of treatment.