How To Store Bamboo Shoot

Bamboo is a type of grass plant, and the Latin name is Bambusa. It is the fastest-growing plant in the world. The tender sprouts hatch from the soil, which then lignifies.  Shoots can grow up to 35 m. The leaves are lanceolate and have short petioles. In appearance, they resemble young giant corn cobs protruding from the ground, only of a greyish-blue colour.  It is interesting that the multi-flowered spikelets appear once in a lifetime, after which the entire group of plants dies off and grows again from the preserved roots and seeds. Bamboo is found in almost all subtropical and tropical regions, in places with a humid climate. 

Bamboo shoots or bamboo sprouts are the edible shoots (new bamboo culms that come out of the ground) of many bamboo species including Bambusa vulgaris and Phyllostachys edulis. 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.

Raw bamboo shoots contain cyanogenic glycosides, natural toxins also contained in cassava.  The toxins must be destroyed by thorough cooking and for this reason fresh bamboo shoots are boiled before being used in other ways. The toxins are also destroyed in the canning process.

The consumption of bamboo shoots has the benefits of improving digestion, relieving sweating and hypertension, preventing cardiovascular diseases and cancer, because bamboo shoots are rich in functional nutrients such as high–quality protein, vitamins, dietary fiber and bioactive compounds, and low in fat and sugar contents. In recent years, fresh bamboo shoot has become increasingly popular all over the world due to its higher nutritional value, however, its tissue lignification and flesh browning lead to rapid deterioration of its edible quality during postharvest.

The health benefits of these shoots are obvious because, as a source of potassium, they support a normal heart rate and blood pressure.  Furthermore having these sprouts in your diet will provide you with phosphorus, zinc, riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, and iron. A balanced complex of essential amino acids has a beneficial effect on the human body and it is a nutritional part of bamboo shoots: Arginine improves heart function, transports nitric oxide throughout the body and normalizes the functioning of the nervous system. Valine stimulates metabolic processes in muscles, increases blood sugar levels and corrects the amount of nitric oxide in the body. Histidine prevents allergic reactions and accelerates regeneration processes in the body. Isoleucine and leucine improve the condition of muscle fibres, increase their tone, and accelerate metabolic processes. Lysine accelerates bone regeneration, has an antiviral effect, stimulates collagen production. Methionine prevents the development of atherosclerosis, accelerates growth and improves hair quality and eliminates edema (swelling of the body). Threonine stimulates the production of glycine and serine, cleanses the liver of toxins and supports the function of all organic systems and organs. Tryptophan prevents the development of insomnia, depression and nervousness. Phenylalanine helps fight stress and prevents the development of migraines. Despite the fact that 90% of the composition of bamboo shoots is water, we read that some argue that these vegetables are in the top 5 of the most useful products for the human body. This is due to its huge range of health benefits as we have read above. External use of the plant also helps accelerate wound healing and prevents the development of purulent-inflammatory processes.

Nutritional value of bamboo shoot

Young bamboo shoots are so popular in Asian cuisine that the composition of the product has been studied raw and after cooking. The calorie content of the young plants is 27 kcal per 100 g, of which:

Proteins: 2.6 g

Fat: 0.3 g

Carbohydrates:

5.2 g

Dietary fibre: 2.2 g

Ash: up to 0.9 g

Water: 91 g

The amount of mono- and disaccharides (sugars) depends on the growing conditions, which range from 3 g per 100 g. 

Processing of bamboo shoots

Processing methods are basically adopted to preserve the bamboo shoots so that they could be used for a longer time.  Different processing methods for bamboo shoots are fermentation, roasting, boiling, blanching, pickling, canning, etc.  In other words, preservation methods of bamboo shoot are storing in brine solution (e.g.5% salt and 1% citric acid in 100 ml), drying, osmotic dehydration, fermentation (), canning, pickling, freezing, or heating etc. Soibum is a popular fermented product of bamboo shoot. It can be prepared in 2 ways such as Khongkhang/ Kwatha type and Andro type.

Drying

• Some drying methods which are generally used are sun drying, oven, freeze and superheated steam, hot air drying, vacuum freeze drying (FD) etc.

• In some researches some optimized advanced drying such as drying in a cabinet dryer (at 60 0C for 7 to 8 h), two-stage hybrid method of drying: hot airflow drying followed by vacuum freeze drying (AFD), reverse of the process i.e. vacuum freeze drying followed by hot airflow drying (FAD) was adopted.

Dried bamboo shoot are useful for off-season and for international shipping. You must soak them for several hours to rehydrate before use. The flavor, however, is maybe not as good as what you’d get from fresh or canned bamboo shoots.

How to Store Bamboo Shoots

To store any leftover canned bamboo shoots, as well as boiled or blanched fresh bamboo shoots, place them in a plastic container covered with fresh water. Seal well and keep in the refrigerator for several days, but not longer than one week. It may be stored in fibreboard cartons, containers, boxes, stacking trays, bags or in bulk. Care should be taken that the lower layers are not crushed by the weight of the upper layers, The quality of the lot and the condition of the air-circulating device should be monitored properly. It is expedient to leave a distance of approximately 30 cm between the top of the case or heap and the ceiling, to permit free circulation of the air

You can store fresh unboiled bamboo shoots in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for one to two weeks. Traditionally in China, uncooked shoots are placed in cold water that is changed daily and stored in a cold, dark room, but this may be unrealistic for modern-day homes!

Bamboo shoots can all be stored for up to 6 months in the freezer.

Bamboo shoot with sheath shall not be stored for more than 3 days in ambient temperature and not more than 30 days in refrigerated conditions at 4°C. In case of bamboo shoot peeled of its sheath, it cannot be stored for more than 12 h in ambient temperature and not more than a day under refrigerated conditions (4°C)

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