C Nirmala
Panjab University, India
Title: Bamboo shoot: A promising natural resource for the food and pharmaceutical industry
Biography
Biography: C Nirmala
Abstract
Bamboo is a fast growing, sustainable and environment friendly resource used not only as a building material, but also as food and medicine. Bamboo shoot, the young expanding tender culm is popularly consumed in East and Southeast Asia, including Japan, China, Korea, Thailand and some parts of India. Fresh shoots have a crisp, crunchy taste and sweet flavor, imparting a unique taste. Consumption of shoots once restricted to countries like China and India since long as traditional cuisine, is now gaining popularity worldwide due to its nutritive value and health benefits. The young shoots are delicious and rich in nutrients including proteins, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. In addition, they have several bioactive compounds that have health enhancing properties and provide protection against many diseases. Since the last decade, people have become very health conscious and prefer to eat foods that not only provide essential nutrients but also improve health thereby increasing the demand for natural foods especially healthy and organic. Due to the fact that synthetically produced compounds such as antioxidants are currently used in the food and pharmaceutical industries in order to prolong product shelf life, which may be harmful for health, there is a strong emphasis on the usage of natural resources to replace the synthetic ones. Bamboo shoot is a natural organic functional food rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds and beneficial for health. Hence, bamboo in general and shoots in particular have come in the forefront in development of modern functional foods and nutraceuticals.