Mineral elements in Bamboo shoots and Potential role in Food Fortification

Bamboo shoots are gaining worldwide importance as a health food being a rich repository of nutrients and health promoting bioactive compounds. The young shoots offer a diversity of micronutrients especially mineral elements, exceeding the profiles of several commonly used vegetables and have great potential to combat micronutrient deficiency or hidden hunger. Deficiency of mineral elements is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder globally and has noticeable effects on human health. Minerals are indispensable due to their diverse functions in body metabolism and are critical for many metabolic processes by serving as essential co-factors for a number of enzymes. Bamboo shoots are a good source of macro and micro mineral elements. Apart from being an excellent source of food, bamboo is used in traditional medicines in many Asian countries. Modern research has supported most of the medicinal properties such as antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antitumor and prevention of cardiovascular and neurological disorders. Due to its nutritional and medicinal properties, bamboo shoot is an ideal bioresource for the development of novel functional foods and nutraceuticals. The present paper discusses mineral elements in fresh and processed bamboo shoots and shoot fortified products and the prospects of using bamboo shoots for food fortification.