ABSTRACT
Young stems of bambusa, a perennial Gramineae, are called bamboo shoots. Bambusa oldhamii, Phyllostachys makinoi, Phyllostachys pubescens, Phyllostachys pubescens (in winter), Bambusa edulis, and Dendrocalamus latiflorus (Fig. 1) are the six principal species used in our diet (1). As a food material, bamboo shoots have many merits: they are abundant in vitamins A, B1, B2, and C (2), are low in calories, contain crude fiber valuable for digestion, have crisp texture, are covered with several layers of hulls to prevent pesticide contamination, and retain a good taste after processing. Bamboo shoots can be processed to obtain canned, refrigerated, dried, salted, or cured products. Canned products may be in tinplate cans or retort pouches. Tinplate cans contain processed fresh materials; retort pouches contain processed salted or cured materials. Most tinplate can products are used for cooking, and the pouch products are ready to eat.
