Novel Food Product Development Through Food-to-Food Fortification with Nutrient and Bioactive Compound-Rich Bamboo Shoot

Abstract

Bamboo shoot is a nutritious health food endowed with minerals, vitamins, dietary fiber, phytosterols, phenols, and various health-promoting bioactive compounds. Though a neglected food commodity and restricted to a few Asian countries, globally, bamboo shoot is being projected as a “superfood”. Currently, there is a paradigm shift in the food industry due to consumer choice from healthy foods to food that prevents nutrition-related diseases and improves the physical and mental well-being of consumers. Scientific evidence and a growing awareness of the correlation between diet and health, coupled with a sedentary lifestyle and rising healthcare costs, have driven the interest of consumers to healthy food products. These products include fortified foods and nutraceuticals that confer positive health benefits to consumers. Earlier foods were incorporated with synthetic micronutrients which is now not appealing to consumers. An upcoming trend in the food industry is the demand for all-natural food ingredients that are free of chemical additives giving rise to the concept of food-to-food fortification, wherein nutrient-rich and available local resources—plant or animal is used to fortify another food. Food-to-food fortification is an emerging food-based strategy that can complement current strategies in the ongoing fight against micronutrient deficiencies. Bamboo shoots with their high content of nutrients and bioactive compounds can be used for making novel nutritious food products. Processed bamboo shoots in the form of powder, paste, or extracted bioactive compounds can be used for developing edible products which will be ready to eat or ready to cook. Bamboo shoot fortified products hold great potential as a health food. The present chapter provides state of the art in bamboo shoot fortified food products and its prospects for combating hidden hunger.