Bamboo is intricately associated with humans from times immemorial. These are popularly known for its industrial uses and a few people know fact of bamboos is the usage of its young shoots as a food that can be consumed fresh, fermented or canned.

In many ancient traditional medicine texts, bamboo shoots are described as'The poor Man's Timber' , ' The plant with Thousand Faces', 'The Green Gold' owing to its innumerable therapeutic properties. The medicinal uses of bamboo shoots were first chronicled in chineese books dating back to 618-907 AD & in Japan, it is prized as'King of Forest Vegetables' .

Bamboo shoots are also known as bamboo sprouts are in culinary must-have in various dishes and soups, in Southeast Asian cuisine and in few parts of India. Available in fresh, fermented or canned forms, bamboo shoots have become quite popular in recent years, owing to its highly impressive nutritional profile.

Nutritional Profile:

Bamboo shoots are powerhouse of proteins, carbohydrates, fiber and minerals. These shoots are very low on fat & sugar making it an ideal snack for the diabetics. The presence of fibre in large quantities known as nutraceuticals helps in dealing with gut issues.

Bamboo shoots are a common ingredient in Asian cuisine. Not only are they great for boosting the flavour & texture of nearly any dish, but they are also highly nutritious, packing a good amount of fibre, potassium, phosphorus, manganese and iron , antioxidants into each serving
They are also low in Carbs, making them a great choice for those following a low Carb or KETOGENIC DIET. They may even offer several health benefits, ranging from reduced blood pressure to improved regularity & digestive health.
The bamboo shoots taste is mild, earthy & slightly nutty. They are often compared to water chestnuts, corn or fresh artichokes, with a tender flavour that is similar to hearts of palm.
These helpfu in fighting free radicals & exhibit anti-cancerous, antibiotics and antiviral properties. Including these shoots in daily diet to reap the benefits of vitamin-A ,vitamin-E, vitamin-B6 , thiamine , riboflavin , calcium, magnesium ,potassium ,phosphorous ,copper, zinc ,manganese and other vital minerals
One can consume bamboo shoots guilt-free as this mainly contains not less than 20 calories for every 100 grams . The carbohydrates count is negligible too, as it amounts is at 3.3% , 3.4%, 0.6% & 2.0% respectively.
Bamboo shoots are good source of protein and amount of protein content ranging from 1.49 g / 100g to 4.04g / 100g fresh weight in fresh bamboo shoots.these have rich amount of aminoacids, out of 17 aminoacids reported in bamboo shoots, 8 aminoacids were essential for human body. In minerals the potassium highest content is 1400mg /100g fresh weight while the least content is 20mg/ 100g fresh weight.
Bamboo shoots are known to have very less amount of fat which provides a healthy nutrition to people with diabetic and cardio thoracic diseases, the low amount of fat is 0.1g / 100g fresh weight and lowest fat content in nonsalted canned shoots is 0.250g/ 100g fresh weight as compared to fermented (0.315g/100g f wt) and freshly harvested shoot (0.387g/100g f wt ). Fibre rich diet helps in reducing the unwanted bad cholesterol and phytosterol-rich diets help in reduction of colon,breast & prostate cancer.

Preparation and preservation of Bamboo shoots:

Freshly harvested bamboo shoots are obtained from the market and the outersheat of shoot is peeled off, the inner soft portion of bamboo shoot cleaned with water.

The inner soft portion is made as slice into small pieces or cut into small pieces and boiled in water for atleast 30-40 minutes.
The boiled water is discarded and these shoots were cleaned with water for 2-3 times . These can be boiled or can be fried with meat/fish items and also can be boiled or fry with other vegetables..
These obtained soft portion of bamboo shoots are cleaned completely and are covered with cloth or paper and kept in fridge
This can be stroed for 2-3 weeks . If the storage period is extended those shoots become more bitter taste and also toxic.

Nutrition Facts:

Bamboo shoots are highly nutritious. Besides containing a low amount of Carbs & Calories in each serving, they are also high in fibre, potassium and manganese.

* One cup (about 120 grams ) of cooked bamboo shoots contain the following nutrients:

13 Calories
2 grams carbohydrate
2 grams protiens
0.3 grams fat
1.2 grams dietary fibre
640 milligrams pottasium (18%DV)
0.1 milligrams manganese (7%Dv)
0.1 milligrams vitamin-B6 (6%Dv)
0.1 milligrams copper (5%DV)
0.6 milligrams zinc (4%Dv)
0.1 milligrams riboflavin (4%DV)

Healthy benefits:

Promote weightloss
Support Digestive Health
May help lower blood pressure
High in Antioxidants
Reduce Cholesterol Levels
Cardiac care
Strengthens Immunity
Work as Expectorant
Antivenomous
Induces Uterine Contractions

*The anticancer property of bamboo shoots might be attributed to the presence of lignans & phytosterols. The production of carcinogen, growth of cancer cells, cell invasion & metastasis are inhibited by phytosterols.

* Regular intake of bamboo shoots reduces reproductive health related problems in female and also used for treatment of irregular menstrual cycle, heavy bleeding after delivery, infertility problems, reducing labour pain and also for inducing puberty in young female.

*Though scientifically not proven but some tribes believe that the bamboo shoots cause abortion in pregnant women. They are often advised not to consume bamboo shoots during the first trimester of pregnancy.

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Manohar Vennela

Bamboo shoots: rich source of fibre, good nutrious and healthy benefits

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