All About Bamboo

Bamboo is, botanically, a tree-like grass belonging to the subfamily of Bambusoideae. It is thought to have made its appearance about 200 million years ago Bamboo is special in that it is a fast growing plant (gaining approximately 75 to 400 mm per day) whose rate of biomass production (giving up to 40 tons per hectare per year in managed stands.) is excellent.

More than 1200 different species are found all over the world. China has abundant resources of bamboo over 500 species. Bamboos are further categorized by the types of their roots. Some, called spreading or running bamboos, exuberantly send out rhizomes spreading for several feet. Others are classified as clumping bamboos, which slowly grow only inches away from the center of the plant with densely clustered culms. Their rhizome is short and sometimes, almost bulbous. There are also varieties of root systems that are a mixture of these types.

Bamboo is a plant known for its great variety of uses, both decorative and practical. One resource book even lists over 5,000 uses. The popular use of bamboo in the west is an ornamental while for people in Asia in early times it was a valuable and one of the most important raw materials used for making numerous useful objects.

Bamboo is an exquisite component of landscape design. In Europe, bamboo has been used as an ornamental for over 150 years. Hundreds of species are suitable for garden use:

Bamboo shoots of certain species are not only edible and succulent but also nutritious: a 100 g portion contains 0.5 to 0.77 g fiber, 81 to 96 mg calcium, 0.5 to 1.7 mg iron, 3.2 to 5.7 mg vitamin C, 0.07 to 0.14 mg vitamin B1, 1.3 to 2.3g protein, 4.2 to 6.1g carbohydrates, 42 to 59 mg phosphorus and 1.8 to 4.1 g glucose. Some species also have significant amounts of vitamin A and amino acids. Some species produce bitter bamboo shoots. The traditional way of removing the undesirable taste is soaking them in limewater for three to five days. Bamboo vegetable is one of the most favorite dishes in Chinese dinner table. With the popularity of Chinese restaurants, people in areas where Chinese communities are prevalent want quality bamboo shoots---both fresh and canned. There are a lot of recipes available for cooking bamboo shoots.

For centuries bamboo has been treated as a valuable ingredient by Chinese herbal medicine. Tabasheer, the powdered, hardened secretion from bamboo, is used to treat asthma, coughs and can be used as an aphrodisiac. In China, ingredients from the root of the black bamboo help treat kidney disease. Roots and leaves have also been used to treat venereal dis ase and cancer. Sap is said to reduce fever, and ash will cure prickly heat. Current research points to bamboo's potential in numerous medicinal uses such as preservative, perfume, deodorizer, wine, beverage, etc.

Bamboo is a peerless erosion control agent. It has an extensive subterranean system of rhizomes and roots. For example, the rhizomes of Phyllostachys bambusoides are reported to travel about 3.6 m per year. A bamboo plant typically binds 6 m3 of soil. This wide-spreading root system create an effective mechanism for watershed protection, stitching the soil together along fragile riverbanks, deforested areas, and in places prone to mud slides.

Bamboo is strong, flexible and hard, meanwhile, it is brittle. Therefore, newly-harvested bamboo cannot immediately be put into use and some preliminary processing is needed. After the quality bamboo is selected out, it is dried directly under strong sunlight or in the kiln. Degreasing, anti-moldy, antisepsis straightening and fumigation are performed before cutting to the required dimension. The final product is usually brown while the raw materials are usually green.

Viva bamboo factory

situated in the southern part of China, harvests and processes majority of common bamboo species found in south China into practical materials for construction, handcraft, gardening, interior decoration and so forth. Our products mainly include natural bamboo poles, bamboo stickers, bamboo skewers, bamboo torches and any other kinds of handmade bamboo products as you required. All our bamboo products are naturally made in accordance to the export standard.