Bamboo shoots with their high nutritive http www

Bamboo shoots, with their high nutritive and therapeutic value, are now used for food fortification (Nirmala & Bisht, 2017). Several value-added products such as nuggets, crackers, chutney, snacks, cookies, cakes, chappaties, and buns have been prepared from bamboo shoots (Table 3). Dietary fiber from bamboo shoots is a common ingredient in bakery, dairy, and meat products. Most of the fiber used as an additive in foods is derived from wheat, oats, corn, and apples. Bamboo shoots with high fiber content can be conveniently used as an alternative for extraction of fiber for subsequent use in the food industry. Bamboo shoot-based products commercially available in China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia include canned bamboo shoots, fermented bamboo shoots, bamboo Kartogenin pickle, bamboo shoot powder, bamboo vinegar and bamboo shoot juice. These novel products have also been analyzed for their sensory and nutritional qualities. Farris and Piergiovanni (2008) prepared a popular Italian food namely, ‘Amaretti cookies’ using bamboo fiber as an ingredient. Incorporation of bamboo fiber imparted a characteristic flavor, texture and taste to the cookies. Sood, Walia, Gupta, and Sood (2013) also prepared some edible products such as preserve, candy, chutney, nuggets, cracker and chukh using juvenile shoots of Dendrocalamus hamiltonii. Results showed that bamboo shoots improved their nutritional and organoleptic qualities. Zheng, Wu, Dai, and Zhang (2017) reported that milk pudding fortified with bamboo shoot fiber increased the yield stress, consistency coefficient values, hardness viscosity and gumminess, whereas the fluid index value decreased. Similarly, other products such as pork nuggets, chicken nuggets, pork pickle, chips, and biscuits have been prepared, using fresh or fermented shoots of different bamboo species such as Bambusa auriculata, B. bambos, B. tulda, B. polymorpha, B. balcooa, B. vulgaris, Dendrocalamus asper, D. strictus. Analysis of these products for their nutritional and organoleptic qualities revealed that the products fortified with fresh or fermented bamboo shoots revealed significantly higher mean sensory scores in terms of flavor, texture, juiciness and overall acceptability. Bamboo shoots not only improved their shelf-life, sensory and nutritional qualities but also increased their physicochemical and nutraceutical properties (Choudhury, Badwaik, Borah, Nandan, & Deka, 2015; Das, Nath, Kumari, & Saha, 2013; Gazi, Hosseini, Yakhchali, & Borajee, 2017; Mustafa, Naeem, Masood, & Farooq, 2016; Thomas, Jebin, Barman, & Das, 2014; Thomas et al., 2016). By adding dietary fiber from fermented bamboo shoots, Zheng et al. (2016) observed a significant reduction of fat absorption in deep fried battered and breaded fish balls. These findings proved that low fat fried fish balls can be produced by the addition of bamboo shoot dietary fiber from fermented shoots in the batter. Consumption of bamboo shoot fiber reportedly decreased serum total cholesterol, LDL, and the atherogenic index, and increased fecal volume and bowel movement frequency in healthy young women when compared with controls on a dietary fiber-free diet (Park & Jhon, 2009). These lipid-lowering effects have been attributed to inhibition of cholesterol absorption and increase of cholesterol excretion. They are also a good source of potassium that helps to maintain a normal blood pressure and a steady heart rate. Potassium deficiency may raise blood pressure, and dietary supplements to replace low potassium level are routinely recommended on hypertensive individuals. A study by Jiao et al. (2007) on the anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-hypertensive effect of triterpenoid-rich extract from bamboo shaving and the vasodilator effect of friedelin on phenylephrine-induced vasoconstriction in thoracic aortas of rats, demonstrated that extract from bamboo shavings could reduce the serum total cholesterol and total triglyceride levels, which are the main factors directly leading to pathological changes in cardiovascular diseases. Bamboo shoots have high content of silica which plays an important role in maintaining the structural integrity, elasticity, and permeability of the arteries thereby regulating the blood pressure. Silica may be useful in reducing blood fats and cholesterol, and atherosclerosis can occur as a result of its deficiency. It also enhances the function of calcium that helps regulate heart beat as well as potassium that helps control hypertension. Considering the health enhancing properties of bamboo, many bamboo based nutraceuticals are commercially available for various ailments (Table 4).