Durability of Traditionally Treated Bambusa tulda towards White Rot Fungus using Vermiculite

Preserving bamboo extends its life and maintains its quality. Bamboo culms are a natural material and will decay with time. They are also susceptible to insect and fungal attack. This will limit the useful lives of the products they are used to produce and may reduce the quality of the raw material to the point that it is no longer useable. The durability of bamboo depends on age, species, moisture content, climatic condition and carbohydrate content. Due to lack of enough toxicity like resins, waxes and tannins to impart natural durability, bamboo need to be treated before putting them into used. The traditional methods of preservation of bamboo by water immersion followed by almost all the rural people of Jorhat are quite effective, economic and most feasible. To decrease the total soluble sugar content immersion of bamboo for a month is sufficient. The durability test was done by inoculating pure culture of Schizophyllum commune - a white rot fungi using vermiculite.