Forestry Bulletin, 12(2), 2012 21 Introduction Bamboo Shoots – An Emerging New Age Health Food Sowmya Chandramouli and S.Viswanath Tree Improvement and Propagation Division, IWST, Bangalore - 560 003 B amboos are tall arborescent grasses belonging to the family Poaceae, popularly known for their wide range of industrial uses and has been associated with human civilization from time immemorial. Bamboo has been gaining increased global attention as an alternative horticulture/plantation crop with multiple uses and benefits, providing human beings with various resources. Bamboo is widely distributed, renewable resource, productive, versatile, low cost, easily accessed and environment-enhancing resource (Sastry, 2008). In recent times, bamboo has gained increased attention due to its carbon sequestration potential. At the ecosystem level, the carbon stock of a mature bamboo forest is on par with most other natural forests and plantations. Bamboo is synonymous with tradition and culture of rural and tribal populations and is an integral part of their cultural and social ethos (Tewari, 1988; Madhab, 2003). A lesser known fact of bamboos is utilization of its juvenile shoots as a food item. In India, 18 native bamboo species have been identified as economically important of which around 10 species are edible (Table 1). In China, shoots have been exploited as a traditional forest vegetable for more than 2,500 years and has been explicitly used in the traditional South Asian cuisine for many centuries. Of all species, Phyllostachys pubescens (Moso) has been largely cultivated and utilized for shoots in China. New culms or juvenile shoots in bamboos usually develop with the beginning of the rainy season in June/July, during which the Table 1. Economically important bamboo species in India Source: NMBA (2011). The main nutrients in bamboo shoots are protein, carbohydrates, amino acids, minerals, fat, sugar, fiber, and inorganic salts S. no. Species S. no. Species 1. Bambusa bambos 10. D. hamiltonii 2. B. nutans 11. D. stocksii 3. B. pallida 12. D. strictus 4. B. polymorpha 13. D. asper 5. B. tulda 14. Guadua angustifolia 6. B. vulgaris 15. Meloconna baccifera 7. B. balcooa 16. Ochlandra travancorica 8. Dendrocalamus brandisii 17. Schizostachym dullooa 9. D. giganteus 18. Phyllostachys bambusoides Viewpoint