Bamboo Shoots- A boon

for northeast India

As you travel across any of the Northeastern states, you'd hardly miss the
sight of extensive bamboo groves; these evergreen perennial flowering
plants are a depiction of nature's richness and uniqueness, a plant that can
give you a feeling of immense freshness and calmness.

It will not be wrong to state that bamboo is an indispensable part of the

lifeline of the tribal people in the Northeast. Its versatility makes it the tribal
man's first choice, considering its strength and endurance while being a
multi-purpose plant. It is formidable to imagine livelihood without bamboo
because every aspect of tribal culture is intrinsically attached to bamboo.
We would find that the region's culture is diverse in its food, values and
norms, the rich folk tales and contrasting landscapes, and many more.

However, the entire region has one thing in common, and that is the close
association with 'bamboo'.

Bamboo plays an important role in the preparation of food items and

traditional cuisines; from blending raw bamboo shoot, fermented bamboo
shoot to dry bamboo shoot, almost every tribe is familiar with these dishes.

For instance, Nagaland has the most exotic recipe like the mouth watery
'bamboo shoot pork' that is widely popular across the entire Northeast
India and the world. The famous bamboo tube cooking is a very primitive
method very dear to almost all the Northeastern tribes and to name a few, it
is called 'brenga' amongst the Garo community and 'Sudu pant' amongst
the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh.
Bamboo shoot is a newly sprouted cane of the bamboo plant, which is just
formed underground and has a crisp texture. The inner soft part of the
bamboo shoot is edible; the exterior is woody and has many layers and is
removed before cooking.
Bamboo shoot is very rich in nutrients. It’s rich in dietary fiber and low on
calorie and sugar content. Bamboo shoot has a source of proteins in the
form of essential and semi-essential amino acids. It contains a good
amount of minerals like potassium, manganese and copper but is low in
fats and calories. It also stimulates the appetite.
Bamboo shoot is widely used in cooking in the Northeastern states of India
like Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Assam. It has become a
quintessential part of their cuisine. Many pickles and curries are made of
bamboo shoot.
Bamboo shoots or bamboo sprouts are the edible shoots of
many bamboo species. They are used as vegetables in numerous
Asian dishes and broths. They are sold in various processed shapes, and
are available in fresh, dried, and canned versions. Most young shoots of
bamboo are edible after being boiled to remove toxins, but only around a
hundred or so species are harvested regularly for edible shoots. These are
usually from species that are also cultivated for other use
In certain parts of Japan, China and Taiwan, shoots from the giant timber
bamboo Bambusa oldhamii are harvested in spring or early summer.
Young shoots from this species are highly sought after due to their crisp
texture and sweet taste. Older shoots, however, have an acrid flavor and
should be sliced thin and boiled in a large volume of water several times.
The sliced bamboo is edible after boiling. B. oldhamii is more widely known
as a ‘noninvasive landscaping bamboo’.
Pickled bamboo, used as a condiment, may also be made from the pith of
the young shoots. In Japan, menma is a common topping for ramen noodle
soup. In China, luosifen river snail noodles, a popular dish from Guangxi,
get their famously pungent smell from pickled bamboo shoots.
Bamboo plants play a significant role in traditional Asian medicine,
especially in China and Japan. Biomedical investigations on the health-
benefiting effects as well as toxicity of different parts and species of
bamboo have been carried out worldwide since the 1960s and documented
a wide range of protective effects of bamboo-derived products, such as
protection against oxidative stress, inflammation, lipotoxicity, cancer, and
cardiovascular disease. Some of these products may interfere with male
and female reproductive function, thyroid hormone metabolism, and
hepatic xenobiotransformation enzymes. The diversity of bamboo species,
parts of the plants available for medicinal use, and different extraction
methods suggest that bamboo has great potential for producing a range of
extracts with functional utility in medicine.
Bamboo refers to any of a group of plants in the subfamily Bambusoideae,
which is a part of the true grass family. This subfamily consists of more
than 70 genera and about 1,450 species, and members of this subfamily
grow in diverse climates from subarctic to tropical regions. The versatile
application of bamboo in people’s daily lives in Asia was vividly described
by William Edgar Giel in his book A Yankee on The Yangtze: being a
narrative of a journey from Shanghai through the central kingdom to
Burma, which was first published in 1904. He wrote, “A man can sit in a
bamboo house under a bamboo roof, on a bamboo chair at a bamboo
table, with a bamboo hat on his head and bamboo sandals on his feet. He
can at the same time hold in one hand a bamboo bowl, in the other hand
bamboo chopsticks and eat bamboo sprouts. When through with his meal,
which has been cooked over a bamboo fire, the table may be washed with
a bamboo cloth, and he can fan himself with a bamboo fan, take a siesta
on a bamboo bed, lying on a bamboo mat with his head resting on a
bamboo pillow…He might then take a walk over a bamboo suspension
bridge, drink water from a bamboo ladle, and scrape himself with a bamboo
scraper.”

In Japan, the
Korea “A garden without
bamboo shoot is
bamboo is like a day
called the “King of without sunshine
Forest Vegetables.”
An invaluable gift of nature to the people of Northeast India.
Tightly interwoven with the daily life and culture of the region.
‘Kalpavriksha’ for the people of the north-eastern region.
It fulfills numerous needs of an inhabitant and enables him to remain self-
reliant in many respects. Bamboo and the Northeast Bamboo area. Out of
136 bamboo species of India, 53 species under 9 genera are reported.
Bamboo shoots have a long history of being used as a source of both food
and medicine in many Asian countries.
In traditional medicine, bamboo shoots are used to ease labor and the
expulsion of the placenta by inducing uterine contractions. A poultice of the
shoots is often used for cleaning wounds and healing infections. Bamboo
shoot decoction taken along with honey is used to treat respiratory
disorders. However, to most people bamboo shoots are best known as
food. Fresh, dried, or fermented bamboo shoots are used in numerous
Asian recipes. Nutrient analysis on freshly emerging juvenile bamboo
shoots has shown high contents of amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates,
vitamins, and minerals, and a low content of fat. As bamboo shoots age,
the dietary fiber and moisture start to increase while vitamin and mineral
contents decrease.
In traditional Chinese medicine, bamboo stems can be processed into
varied forms like:
 Zhuru (bamboo shavings), dried, long and thin slices shaved from
the intermediate layer of the bamboo stalk after the outer skin is
removed. It is “sweet and slightly cold” and used for stomach heat
syndromes that produce incorrect flow of qi, commonly causing
nausea, loss of appetite, hiccups or vomiting.
 Tianzhu Huang, also known as tabasheer, is a dried resinous
secretion with very high silica content (up to 85 percent silica) from
the knots of certain female species of bamboo. It is “sweet and cold”,
clears heat, resolves phlegm, relieves convulsion, especially used in
remedies for children’s feverish disorders and epilepsy.
 Zhuli, is the liquid sap obtained from the ends of freshly cut bamboo
pieces with outer surface removed and exposed to heat. Zhuli is
“colder” than Zhuru and Tianzhu Huang. It enters the heart, lung, and
stomach meridians. It has a lubricating nature, strongly eliminates
phlegm-heat, and is used to treat epilepsy, schizophrenia,
 hemiplegia, facial paralysis, and numbness and tingling or cramp of
the limbs.
 Bamboo vinegar, a liquid condensed from the vapor generated by
heating bamboo at very high temperature in an airless vessel (a
process to make bamboo charcoal). It has high content of acetic
acid, accompanied by phenols. Bamboo vinegar is largely produced
in Japan and is used to treat varied skin diseases. Recent
biomedical research has been mainly focused on the biological
function of bamboo shavings, bamboo vinegar, and ethanolic
extracts of bamboo culms.
 In Northeast India, Bambusa balcooa, Bambusa pallida and Melocanna
baccifera are mainly used for edible purposes. Presently, in the production
of various bamboo-based products such as panels, flooring, pulp, daily-
use articles, charcoal, etc., about 3000 companies in the world are
engaged

Bamboo shoots not only add variety and flavor to a dish, but there are also
many health benefits as well.

 Bamboo shoots are very low in calories and rich in edible fiber – one
cup of tender sliced shoots provides 13 calories. When obese
individuals are given 50 to 100g of bamboo shoots per day for 10
days they show a significant loss in weight.
 Because of their high dietary fiber content, even stubborn
constipation can be cured. It also helps in good digestion and
boosting the immune system.
 Bamboo shoots are rich in potassium. They keep cholesterol levels in
check as well as prevent colon cancer. Potassium is also good for
lowering and maintaining blood pressure.

 They are a good source of lignans and other antioxidants which have
anti-cancer, anti- bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties.
Cooking methods also determine the nutrient components and
antioxidant capacities of bamboo shoot. According to a Chinese
study, 'stir-frying could increase antioxidant capacities of bamboo
shoots and could obtain the maximum retention of antioxidant
capacities'.
 Besides being a good source of selenium, bamboo shoots have 17
amino acids and plenty of minerals including calcium, magnesium,
phosphorus, potassium, sodium (very high in sodium content),
copper, manganese, selenium and iron.
 Juice of tender bamboo shoots is used to clear maggot infested
wounds, sores and ulcers.
 Syrup made with bamboo juice and palm jaggery is used to induce
abortion in early pregnancy, initiate labor pains when delivery is
overdue (called the uterotonic properties) and to clear out placenta
after childbirth. An Austrian study published in the journal Planta
Medica; the researchers found that bamboo is one of the uterotonic
plants.

 Bamboo shoots are good for respiratory problems, menstrual

disorders and threadworms.
 Bamboo leaves are rich in hydrocyanic and benzoic acid. A decoction
made with tender leaves is used to treat diarrhea.