“Basta”- young bamboo shoot and its importance

Nature has given a lot of gifts in the form of valuable flora and fauna. One of the most important wild plants is bamboo. Bamboo plays a very significant role in the science of Ethno botany. Young bamboo shoots which are considered as one of the most useful health products because of their rich content of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, fibers and minerals and very low fat. Bamboo shoots should be processed properly before the consumption as freshly harvested shoots contain high content of cynogenic glycosides which may pose serious health issues. When the nutritional values of young bamboo shoots are compared with our commonly used vegetable like Carrot, Radish, Brinjal, Cabbage, we find that bamboo shoots contain a quite more amount of nutritious contents. This review gives stress on essential phytochemicals, health benefits and ethno medicinal uses of young bamboo shoots and their usage as important traditional food in India.