Bamboo shoots ‘high in protein content’ could feed world, scientists say
It is one of the world’s oldest and fastest growing plants, but bamboo could also play a key role in providing a sustainable and nutritious food source to the growing global population, according to a team of Chinese scientists.
Bamboo shoots, in particular, have an abundance of health benefits, including a high protein content “similar to cow’s milk” which is also higher than many grains, according to a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Trends in Food Science & Technology.
The researchers have been studying this “underestimated natural resource” as a possible food staple of the future, according to the team led by Wu Liangru, corresponding author of the paper and a researcher at the China National Bamboo Research Centre.
“Bamboo offers the potential for sustainable food resources and creates opportunities for trade and export, which can contribute to the growth of local economies,” the researchers wrote in the paper.
Outlining the health benefits, they said bamboo shoots provided seven of the nine essential amino acids needed by humans. In fact, bamboo shoots’ amino acid content is higher than other vegetables like carrots, celery and cabbage, while the shoots also contain more iron than spinach and pumpkin.
The shoots are also a great source of carbohydrates like dietary fibres, have a low fat content and are a good source of various vitamins, according to the paper.
Studies had found that bamboo shoots had the potential to prevent obesity, diabetes and cancer, and provided antioxidant and antimicrobial benefits, the scientists said.
“Antioxidant activity is one of the most important functionalities of bamboo shoots,” they said, explaining that the food contained compounds that were known to scavenge free radicals – which cause cell damage and are linked to ageing.
“[Bamboo shoots are] rich in protein, dietary fibre, minerals, vitamins and a variety of biologically active substances,” Wu said.
The shoots – which feature a creamy yellow and hollow interior – can be prepared in a variety of ways, including pickled in salt, fermented, dried, canned, frozen, made into juice and powder, and cooked fresh like other vegetables.
Bamboo could also be processed into different components to make “functional food ingredients” like dietary fibre, which were added into foods such as baked goods and yogurts to provide fortification, the researchers added.
While many around the world may see it as simply the food of the giant panda, bamboo actually has a long history in Asia as both a culinary and medicinal ingredient.
It is mentioned in the ancient Chinese dictionary, Erya, which dates as far back as the late 4th century BC, stating that, “bamboo shoot, the bud of bamboo, can be dishes”.
Now, an increasing demand for bamboo shoot products was being seen, the paper said, with a 40 per cent rise in trade value recorded between 2007 and 2018, the main export volume being canned shoots.
It is an industry that is ripe for expansion. China is the world’s largest bamboo producer, with around 6.4 million hectares of bamboo forest. But of that, less than 6 per cent is dedicated to producing shoots and around 24 per cent for combined timber and shoot production.
An estimated 25 to 35 million tonnes of shoots were produced in China each year within this forest area, yet only a third was harvested for consumption, the paper said.
The rest were “left rotting on the mountain” owing to an existing oversupply and low prices, which left little incentive for farmers to harvest the shoots, Wu said.
But, if China’s shoots were fully harvested, and if there was a global increase in bamboo production, the world could produce as much as 150 million tonnes each year, Wu said, which would go a long way towards feeding the growing global population.
Bamboo production is not without its issues, though. About 70 per cent of the world’s bamboo forests are in Asia, with other bamboo grown in Africa and South America.
In the 48 countries in Africa where bamboo grows, accounting for around 12 per cent of the global crop, a lack of awareness of its benefits means the processing of shoots there is underdeveloped.
In total, there are 1,640 different species of bamboo found worldwide, but not all of those have edible shoots.
Of the 800 species found in China, only 153 are edible, and of those, only 56 are of a “high quality”, according to the researchers.
Plus, around 70 per cent of a bamboo shoot is inedible waste. However, the paper said a growing number of researchers were examining how to turn shoot shells into functional ingredients to further capitalise on the plant.
“Despite their potential, the utilisation of bamboo shoots in the current food industry faces limitations,” the paper said, adding that these would need to be addressed for bamboo to become adopted as a global staple food.
Wu said that the plant also had a short shoot period, which made it hard to harvest before the shoots became woody.
Bamboo shoots can become woody and rigid quickly after being harvested, so they are processed to make them shelf stable – which decreases their nutritional value.
Fresh bamboo shoots also contained toxins, which were reduced through processing, but the researchers said testing should be conducted before products were sent to market, and international standards should be created to ensure safety.
Further research also needs to be carried out on the long-term impact of eating increased amounts of bamboo shoots, especially through the use of functional ingredients.
However, the team wrote that bamboo shoots were “an underestimated natural resource in the international scenario, have great potential to become a mainstream food worldwide and contribute to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”.
Bamboo offers the potential for sustainable food resources and creates opportunities for trade RESEARCHERS