Resistance of Natural Bamboo Fiber to Microorganisms and Factors that May Affect Such Resistance

This study investigates the relative ability of natural bamboo fiber used in textile manufacturing to resist attack by bacteria and fungi. These tendencies were determined with the dynamic test method for evaluating antibacterial activity and were compared with the bacterial and fungal resistance of other textile fibers, such as cotton, jute, flax, ramie, and regenerated bamboo fiber. The bacteria studied were Escherichia coli (8099) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), and the fungal species was Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). The relationships between the bacteriostatic ability of natural bamboo fiber and its physical state, hygroscopicity, and extractives were tested to explore the possible influencing factors. The results show that natural bamboo fiber has no natural antibacterial properties, as compared with natural cotton bacteriostatic rates against the bacteria were all zero. The physical state did not impact the natural resistance of natural bamboo fiber to the bacteria and the fungus. The resistance of the plant fiber may be related to its hygroscopicity, and some extraction methods could improve the ability of natural bamboo to resist microorganisms.