Bamboo shoots have the potential to be an affordable alternative to vegetables as they are nutritious and fast-growing. They contain important nutrients like amino acids, enzymes, and minerals. While some bamboo shoots are toxic raw, cooking removes toxins and makes them safe to eat. Bamboo shoots can be consumed fresh, dried, canned, fermented, or powdered and have a crisp texture and mild flavor. Processing bamboo shoots into various food products could provide economic opportunities, but standardized processing methods need to be developed first.

1. 22Food Marketing & Technology July 2015
Bamboo Shoots –A Traditional
Alternative to Vegetables
By Shreyansh Raj Morris and N.A. Nanje Gowda
V
egetables are the most
important nutritional source
in our day-to-day life. We
consume vegetable in our daily diet,
but do we eat them in plenty? And
what exactly does plenty mean? Five
bowls of vegetables? Six salads? Two
sweet potatoes? The right amount
for you depends on several factors,
including age, gender, and physical
activity. These factors determine the
amount of vegetables one should eat
for an individual daily diet.
As people become more health
conscious, high demand has increased
the prices of fruits and vegetables. The
need of the hour is to find an alternate
vegetable which would give equal
nutrition at a cheaper price. One such
vegetable is the bamboo shoots whose
potential is unexplored and can be an
ideal vegetable substitute.
Bamboos are the fastest-growing
plants in the world, due to a unique
rhizome-dependent system. Certain
species of bamboo can grow 35 inches
within a 24-hour period, at a rate of
approximately 1 millimeter every 2
minutes (Farrelly and David, 1984).
The main edible portions are its shoots
in various forms.
Bamboo shoots are young, new canes
that are harvested for consumption
before they are two weeks old or one-
foot tall. The shoot forms a traditional
delicacy in many countries. Bamboo
shoots are consumed in raw, canned,
boiled, marinated, fermented, frozen,
liquid and medicinal forms. They are
the perfect vegetable substitute for
its dual nature of being nutritionally
rich, yet economical among other
vegetables. The shoots are crisp and
tender, comparable to asparagus, with
a flavour similar to corn.
Edible Bamboo Species
India is one of the leading countries
in the world, second only to China,
in bamboo production with 32.3
million ton/year. Out of the 1575
known bamboo species worldwide,
110 species are recorded to have
edible shoots (Choudhury et al.,
2012). Even though some bamboo
shoots are classified as edible, they
must be carefully prepared and
boiled before consuming to eliminate
the toxic compounds. Knowledge of
actual HCN concentration in different
edible bamboo species is essential for
processing to make them suitable for
human consumption.
Nutritional Profile
The amino acid content of bamboo
shoot is much higher than found in
other vegetables such as cabbage,
carrot, onion and pumpkin. Bamboo
shoots contain 17 different types of
enzymes and over 10 mineral elements
such as Cr, Zn, Mn, Fe, Mg, Ni, Co
and Cu. In view of these essential
nutrients, bamboo shoot is considered
an ideal vegetable for healthy diet
(Anon, 2008). In addition, shoots are
composed of phytochemicals such as
lignans and phenolic acids. Lignans is a
component of fibre and has anticancer,
antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral
activity. Phenolic acids have mild
anti-inflammatory properties and are
potent antioxidants. (Blethenet al.,
2001).
Bamboo shoots not only add variety
and flavour to a dish, there are many
health benefits.
One cup of half-inch long bamboo
slices contains 14 calories and 0.5g of
fat. The juice pressed from bamboo
shoots possesses protease activity that
helps in digestion of protein. Boiled
bamboo shoots are used as appetisers.
Processing Bamboo Shoots
Bamboo shoots need to be peeled and
cooked before use and they are not
eaten raw as they are bitter in taste and
hard to digest. The shoots will still be
crisp and crunchy after cooking. The
cyanogen in bamboo is taxiphyllin and
it decomposes quickly when placed
in boiling water. Bamboo becomes
edible because of this instability.
Ferreiraet al., (1995) have shown that
boiling bamboo shoots for 20 minutes
at 98C removed nearly 70 percent of
the HCN while all improvements on
that (higher temperatures and longer
intervals) removed progressively up
to 96 percent. Thus even the highest
quoted figure (800 mg/100g) would be
detoxified by cooking for two hours.
Value Addition
There is a growing demand for
processed and packaged bamboo
shoots in the national and international
market. The shelf life of freshly
Ingredients

2. 23Food Marketing & Technology July 2015
www.fmtmagazine.in
harvested bamboo shoots is just
nine and 23 days in water and brine,
respectively. There is a huge potential
for value addition to bamboo shoots,
and some of them are discussed below.
Fresh bamboo Shoots as Foods:
Bamboo shoot can be consumed as
fresh after boiling. Sweet pickles,
chutney and candies are prepared
from the pith of the bamboo shoots in
the north eastern region. The sap of
young stalks tapped during the rainy
season is made into a soft drink in
China. In Manipur, the fresh bamboo
shoots are taken with dry fish. The
edible bamboo species in Western
Ghats of India are extensively used as
snacks, fried food stuffs, and curries.
Tama, a fresh non-fermented bamboo
shoot curry is very popular in Sikkim
(Tamangand Tamang, 2009).
Dried Bamboo Shoots: Drying is the
oldest and simplest food processing
technology in the food industry.
Extensive research work has been
carried out on drying technology of
bamboo shoots. Fresh has a crispness
whereas dried shoot has a meaty
quality. Both have that musty bamboo
funk which disappears when cooked.
Dried bamboo shoots have a chewy-
tenderness and pleasant sweetness
that’s not found in fresh or canned
bamboo.
Canned Bamboo Shoots: Fresh
bamboo shoots with high moisture
are highly perishable due to growth of
bacteria, moulds and yeasts. Canning
is an effective preserving method to
abate rancidity and inhibit the growth
of micro-organisms in fresh bamboo
shoots. Canning involves boiling the
sliced bamboo shoots for about 2
hours or at 120 °C for 40 to 60 minutes,
and then storage in brine solution
containing 5-10 percent NaCl or more,
depending on the species, and 1 percent
citric acid. Canned bamboo shoots will
have a shelf life more than six months
and can be used as vegetables or pickle
condiments.
Fermented Bamboo Shoots: The
bamboo shoot in its fermented form is
an important ingredient in cuisines and
in Assam it is called Khorisa. Apopular
delicacy across the ethnic boundaries, it
consists of bamboo shoots fermented in
turmeric, oil and cooked with potatoes
which are usually accompanied with
rice, commonly known as alutama
in Nepali. Fermentation of bamboo
shoots involves placing cleaned and
chopped bamboo shoots into earthen
pots (bottom is perforated for draining
the acidic fermented juice produced
during fermentation). The pots are
tightly closed and a weight is placed on
the top to create pressure. The shoots
are kept in this condition for 6 to 12
months without any preservatives.
Aftercompletefermentation,theshoots
can be stored up to1 to 2 years before
marketing, thus making them available
round the year. It has been shown
that the fermented succulent shoots
of B. tulda and D. giganteus are an
enriched source of phytosterols and
can, therefore, be used as starting
material in the production of steroidal
drugs (Sarangthem and Singh, 2003).
Bamboo Shoot Powder: Bamboo
shoot, from its constituents, indicates
that it contains considerable amount
of carbohydrate and dietary fibres.
During boiling, the polysaccharides
get hydrolysed into simple sugars
and gives sweet taste to the shoots
(Kumbhare and Bhargava, 2007).
Bamboo shoot powder has low
moisture content that gives it a long
shelf life and allows its direct use into
various dry food items. Japanese use
bamboo powder in standard bread
flour and also recommends a 3–8
percent addition of the powder to any
food products (Hua, 1987). In China,
bamboo juice produced by pressure-
cooking, is used to make beverages and
specific liquors, apart from medicines
(Qing et al., 2008).
Green Beer: With a new twist on the
use of “green” some brewers across
the world are making green beer with a
renewable and sustainable ingredient
- bamboo. Weighing in at around
four and a half percent alcohol, it is
relatively average in strength. The raw
materials used to create bamboo beer
include Ginko biloba and bamboo leaf
extracts. With a characteristic bamboo
aroma and beer flavour, bamboo juice
beers show a good number of health
benefits by lowering blood lipids and
fighting heart ailments.
Future Prospects
Bamboo shoots hold the prospect
of value added economic activities
through cultivation, processing,
packaging and commercialisation.
However, the preparation of various
bamboo shoot-based food products
is traditional, local, unorganised
and based on the taste of the local
people. There is no standardised
processing technology or protocols
for preservation of the raw bamboo
shoots. This calls for the development
of appropriate technologies for
preservation of bamboo shoots in
various forms. In India, there is neither
a major approach for promotion of
shoots nor is there well thought-out
market or supply chain for the raw
or processed bamboo shoots. Focus
should be directed for following
aspects for sustainable development
of bamboo shoot-based food products.
Bamboo RTS (Ready to serve) drinks
and squashes with different natural
colours can be of great economic
importance to an industry as till date
no industries have manufactured
bamboo related beverages in India.
Shreyansh Raj Morris is Bachelor in Food
Processing Engineering, Indian Institute
of Crop Processing Technology, Thanjavur,
Tamil Nadu. N.A. Nanje Gowda is Research
Associate, AICRP on PHT, Agro Processing
Complex, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore. The authors
may be reached at nanjegowdana@gmail.com