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The Edibility of Shoots of Bangladesh Bamboos and Their Continuous Harvesting Effect on Productivity

Dr. Ratan Lal Banik
Ex. Divisional officer
Bangladesh Forest Research Institute,P.O. Box-273, Chittagong.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The shoots of ten bamboo species of Bangladesh have been tested in respect to taste, flavor, texture and color of the edible parts. The shoot color and shape of each species were described.The weight of outer cover (sheaths) and internal edible portion of shoots are more or less same in these species. Three species Bambusa polymorpha, Melocanna baccifera and Dendrocalamus longispathus were found to produce shoots with slight bitter to sweet taste and pleasant flavor at raw state. Shoots of the remaining seven species. Bambusa bambos, B.longispiculata, B.vulgaris, B. tulda,. D. giganteus, Schizostachyum dulloa and Thyrostachys oliveri possessed varying degree if bitterness or astringency. Fairly acceptable taste and easy availability of shoots of M. baccifera made the species most common bamboo vegetable for the tribal people of Bangladesh. In all the species shoots production both by number and weight per clump was found to increase in the second and third year, if continuously harvested. However, the shoot production decreased per clump after third to fifth year if the harvesting continued, and after sixth year of continuous harvest some species even stopped shoot production. Continuous harvesting of bamboo shoots has been discouraged and selective harvesting in every year has been advised.

Keywords: Bamboos , Continuous harvesting, Effect ,Edibility of shoot, Productivity

Location: Bambusetum of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Chittagong.

Start Date: 00-06-1984

End Date: 00-07-1984

Program Area: Crop-Soil-Water Management

Commodity: Bamboo

Objectives:

a)To study the edible bamboo shoots of Bangladesh and its nutritional, medicinal, economic and food value

b)To find out the effectiveness of continuous harvesting of bamboo shoots productivity.

c)To contribute in increasing the understanding of the importance of bamboo shoots.

Methodology:

The shoots of Bambusa tulda ( Mitinga) Dendrocalamus longispathus (Ora) Melocanna baccifera (Muli) Schizostachyum dulloa (Dolu) Bambusa bambos (Kanta) Bambusa longispiculata (Tallah) Bambusa polymorpha (Farua) Bambusa vulgaris (Baizzya) Dendrocalamus giganteus (Bhudum) and Thyrostachys oliveri (Rupai) were tested.The species have been raised through the offset planting in the bambusetum of Bangladesh Forest research Institute(BFRI) during 1973-1974. The edibility test was done during June-July 1984 from 2-3 clumps of each species. The shoots of 15-45 cm long dug out from the underground rhizomes.Then washed thoroughly under tap water and marked species- wise. The shape, diameter, color and appearance of the culm sheaths for each species, the percentage of weight of sheath and edible part to the shoot weight were recorded.. The edible part cut into pieces and kept in separate petridishes. Data were recorded on the observation of taste, colour, texture and flavour of the fresh pieces of shoot kept in the petridishes. The taste and flavor were graded as bitter, sweet, pungent and astringent.The quality was categorized as slight, trace and very. The texture of the shoots of each species has also been perceived and recorded. The data sheets were analyzed and arranged species-wise.All the bamboo shoots have been harvested continuously since 1975 to 1981 and there is no new emerging shoots were left for develop into full grown clumps. Almost every morning at 8.00-9.00 am clumps of the BFRI bambusetum were visited. All the new emerging shoots were collected from each clump and dried in the sun for one month and finally oven dried (at 105ºC). Constant weights (gm) for each group, the number of shoots collected from a clump under a species, the date of collection and biomass have been recorded continuously for seven years.The mean value of the parameters were calculated for each species in every year.

Source of Information: Bangladesh Journal of Forest Science Vol.26(1):1-10,1997

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

1. Government

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The edible bamboo sprout is delicious and nutritious. Many over populated countries, like China, Japan and India are using this sprout as one of the vegetables.So bamboo shoots could be a welcome addition to the diets of many populations in Bangladesh. In the present population-explosive world, this “vegetable could play an important role for solving the global hunger problem. The cultivation and processing of this product require a great deal of scientific study to improve the quality and quantity of the yield.

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