I. Bamboo and Rattan, Yol. 4, No.3, pp. 211-220 (2005) © YSP2005. Also available online Effect of heat treatment using palm oil on properties and durability of Semantan bamboo R. WAHAB 1.*, A. MOHAMAD 1, H. W. SAMSI 2 and O. SULAIMAN 3 1 University Malaysia Sabah (UMS), 88999 Kota Kinabalu. Sabah, Malaysia 2 Forest Rersearch lnstitute Malaysia (FRlA'!), Kepong 52109, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). 11800 Minden. Penang. Malaysia Abstract-This paper investigates the effect of heat treatment on Semantan bamboo (Gigantochloa scortechinii) with emphasis given to their properties and durability. Matured four-year-old bamboo culms were harvested and subjected to high temperature condition using palm oil as a heating media. Two groups of samples, green and air-dried, were used. The temperatures applied were 140 o e, 180 0 e and 220 o e, with exposure duration of 30, 60 and 90 min, respectively. The results of the investigations show that the heat-treated bamboos retained most of their original physical and strength properties after undergoing the heat treatment. Green or air-dried bamboo culms can be dried to an Me of 6-7% within 2-3 h of treatment. The basic densities of bamboo were found to improve slightly by the heat application. The overall strengths properties of the heat-treated bamboo were found to decrease. The modulus of elasticity in the bending strengths was reduced between 2 and 33% in the green- and 6-9% in the air-dried conditions. For the modulus of rupture in the bending strengths, the value was reduced between 1 and 23% in green- and 4-16% in air-dried conditions. The compression strengths were reduced in the range between 2 and 3% in green- and 2-35% in air-dried conditions. The shear strengths were reduced in the range between 16 and 24% and 12-24% in in green- and air-dried conditions, respectively. Key words: Bamboo; Seman tan bamboo (Gigantochloa scortechinii); heat treatment; physical properties; strength; durability. INTRODUCTION Bamboo, being a cheap material, having a fast growing rate and possessing high mechanical properties amongst woody materials, is currently being considered as an alternative to wood. However, bamboo is easily susceptible to fungal or insect attack [1-3]. The physical and mechanical properties of bamboo will deteriorate rapidly if the material is not treated with preservatives [2-4]. The use of preservatives in *To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: drrazakw@ums.edu.my