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Cellulosic fibers were extracted from bolo (Gigantochloa bolo) culm and running bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) branches grown in Baguio City, Philippines using separate pre-treatment and processing reagents. Food grade reagents such as acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide were used to further process the fibers after NaHCO3 pre-treatment and non-food grade reagents such as hydrochloric acid were used to further refine the NaOH pre-treated fiber samples. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis revealed that the use of food grade reagents in the fiber extraction process was effective in removing surface impurities as shown in the general decrease in percentage absorbance (%A) of functional groups associated to hemicellulose and lignin. This is also observed in the increasing crystallinity index (CI) calculated from x-ray diffractogram for six days NaOH pre-treatment, six days NaHCO3 pre-treatment, and 10 days NaHCO3 pre-treatment of bolo culms. However, in terms of fiber diameter NaOH pre-treatment was best in decreasing fiber diameter in running bamboo stem as shown in the optical microscopy results. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) displayed a smoother and more organized structure for NaOH pre-treated bamboo fibers. In general, volumetric analysis using potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O4) and ferrous ammonium sulfate (FeH8N2O8S2) in a reduction-oxidation reaction confirmed the presence of alpha(α) cellulose in the bamboo samples as evidenced by a purple end-point. Further investigation of processing parameters using food grade or eco-friendly reagents can be done as this initial investigation shows the potential of food-grade reagents in the extraction of cellulosic fibers from bamboo.
