Experiment and Analysis on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Bamboo and Wood Chopsticks

Determinations were implemented on physical and mechanical properties of 47 batches bamboo and wood chopsticks made by different factories. The results showed that the moisture content of bamboo and wood chopsticks ranged from 7% to 16%, wood chopsticks had the highest moisture content, followed by natural bamboo chopsticks and carbonized bamboo chopsticks. The length tolerance of bamboo and wood chopsticks was within ±2.0 mm, and the size tolerance of head and tail end was less than ±0.20 mm. Bamboo and wood chopsticks had curvature less than 0.60 mm, and last ones were relatively better than bamboo ones. Bamboo and wood chopsticks had excellent fracture and drop performance. Unpainted bamboo and wood chopsticks had better hot-water and hot-oil resistance performance than painted ones. Test of 60 minutes hot-water and hot-oil demonstrated that unpainted bamboo and wood chopsticks had no deformation, discoloration and prickle.