By: ERAKHRUMEN A. A.; OWEGIE E. J.;
Abstract:
Studies on bamboo culms are currently increasing in intensity and scale with most of them being on their internodes, although, limited number of these studies showed that the nodes can also be useful. This research was therefore carried out to examine the microscopic features of cell wall structure of a bamboo’s nodal tissues. Consequently, culms of Bambusa vulgaris Schrad of between ages of <1 and 3 years old were harvested from Ogba Biological Garden and Park and within the University of Benin campus, Benin City, Nigeria, sectioned into basal, middle and upper portions, taken to the laboratory and fixed in concentrated ethanol. Blocks of tissues of approximately 0.5 x 0.5 x 1.0 cm3 were obtained from each of the nodes from the three sections and further immersed in increasing concentrations of ethanol for periods ranging from 1 to 3 hours. These tissues were also immersed in two different xylene solutions and later followed by the introduction of wax into the tissues. Using a microtome, thin slices of tissues of 30?m thickness were obtained from the blocks in the longitudinal, tangential and radial planes, stained with haematoxylin/eosin, mounted on glass slides and dried. Observation of cell wall tissues was carried out using a photomicroscope. Analyses of all the photomicrographs revealed that the nodal tissues appeared to contain comparatively larger vascular bundles at the base of all the culms, with those from the radial planes appearing to give more of this photo-impression. The size of the vascular bundles appeared to also decline from the base towards upper part in the three age groups. The vascular bundles were also observed to be larger in all the planes for older culms than the younger ones. However, it appeared that the frequency of the vascular bundles increased from the basal portion towards the upper in all the age groups. The outcomes of this research indicate that nodes may be employed in some applications for maximal utilisation of culms with more studies necessary to improve on these potentials.
Keywords: Bamboo nodes, lignocellulosic tissues, microscopic photo-impressions, longitudinal/transverse crosssections
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