Purpose: To measure the tensile strength of the anterior and posterior lens capsules in eye-bank eyes and study the tensile strength of capsules dehydrated with hypertonic glucose solution. Setting: Tongren Hospital Beijing. China. Methods: The in situ anterior and posterior capsules of 35 eye-bank eyes (Group 1) donated by healthy men aged 20 to 40 years (mean 27.1 years) were measured with a biomembrane strength device. Sixteen eyes (Group 2), from donors aged 20 to 37 years (mean 27.0 years) and similar to those in Group 1, were measured in the same way after the anterior and posterior capsules were exposed to glucose 50% solution for 15 minutes. Results: In Group 1, anterior and posterior capsule strength was 6.269 +/- 1.118 and 3.755 +/- 0.835 g, respectively (P <.01), and the correlation between the tensile strength of the anterior and posterior capsules was statistically significant (r = .94; P <.001). In Group 2, the strength of the capsules increased to 9.024 +/- 0.586 and 4.424 +/- 0.761 g, respectively a finding that was statistically significantly different from that in Group 1 (P <.01 and .05, respectively). Conclusion: The tensile strength of the anterior capsule was stronger than that of the posterior capsule under the experimental conditions. Glucose 50% solution has the potential to increase the tensile strength of anterior and posterior capsules.