Alleviation of anti-nutritive components of bamboo shoot through fermentation

Abstract

The increasing trends of health consciousness among consumers have stimulated the field of functional foods. The plant based functional foods or food constituents have been investigated for their role in disease prevention and have dazzled the scientific community with its potentiality and “Bamboo” is one of them. Bamboo is not popular as food but is consumed fresh, fermented or canned. The young shoots are rich in nutrients and nutraceuticals which make it an important food with numerous health benefits. Keeping in view the unexplored and unutilized potential of bamboo shoot as food, an attempt has been made for biochemical profiling of raw bamboo shoot and its fermented product. An increase in non reducing sugar, total starch and cellulose content was observed in the fermented product whereas a significant decrease in anti-nutritive factors phytic acid, tannins and cyanogens was observed as a result of fermentation. The decreases in anti-nutritive factors suggest that fermented products are more suitable for consumption.