Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. 30 (2): 1397 - 1408 (2022) ISSN: 0128-7680 e-ISSN: 2231-8526 Journal homepage: http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/ © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Article history: Received: 06 June 2021 Accepted: 15 September 2021 Published: 28 March 2022 ARTICLE INFO DOI: https://doi.org/10.47836/pjst.30.2.30 E-mail addresses: fierasuhaimi@gmail.com (Nur Musfirah Suhaimi) nurulhusna@uitm.edu.my (Nurul Husna Mohd Hassan) rushdan@frim.gov.my (Rushdan Ibrahim) latifah@frim.gov.my (Latifah Jasmani) * Corresponding author Pulping Yield and Mechanical Properties of Unbeaten Bamboo Paper Nur Musfrah Suhaimi 1 , Nurul Husna Mohd Hassan 2 *, Rushdan Ibrahim 3 and Latifah Jasmani 3 1 Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 UiTM, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Wood Industry, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang, 26400 UiTM, Bandar Tun Abdul Razak, Pahang, Malaysia 3 Forest Product Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia, 52109 Kepong, Selangor, Malaysia ABSTRACT One way to minimize emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change is to reduce the use of wood as the main material for pulp and paper production. Therefore, non- woody plants such as bamboo can be alternatives as raw materials for pulp and paper. This study aims to determine the efect of the diferent bamboo species and age on the bamboo pulping yield and bamboo mechanical paper properties. Bambusa vulgaris, Gigantochloa levis, and Gigantochloa scortechinii bamboo species or locally known as Aur, Beting, and Semantan bamboo at the age of 1, 3, and 5-year old, were pulped using Soda-Anthraquinone (AQ) pulping. No beating process was conducted to all the papermaking processes to evaluate the basic mechanical properties of the bamboo paper. Pulping yield ranged from 35.7 to 51.7% at diferent bamboo species and age, with the pulping conditions at 20% of NaOH, 170ºC pulping temperature, 90 min time to reach pulping temperature and 90 min time at pulping temperature, 1:6 of bamboo to liquor ratio and 0.1% of AQ based on bamboo oven-dried weight. The paper was made according to TAPPI Standard T205 sp- 95. The paper mechanical properties for burst index, tear index, tensile index, and folding endurance ranged from 1.32 to 2.36 kPa.m 2 /g, 7.48 to 14.9 Nm 2 /g, 16.02 to 29.68 Nm/g, and 2 to 28 double folds, respectively, at diferent bamboo species and age. It was found that Beting bamboo has the potential to be a viable raw material for pulp and paper products as it shows the highest mechanical properties compared to Aur and Semantan. Keywords: Bamboo age, bamboo species, paper mechanical properties, pulping yield, soda-AQ pulping