Evaluation of Proximate Composition, Vitamins, Amino Acids, Antioxidant activities with Minerals and Bioactive Compounds of Young Edible Bamboo (Phyllostachys mannii Gamble)

Abstract

Bamboo is a plant which is lesser known as a source of food though awareness of the edible young shoots as food is increasing worldwide. Of the many known edible bamboos, shoots of Phyllostachys are popular vegetable in many South East-Asian countries. Phyllostachys mannii is one of the dominant species distributed extensively in regions of North-East India which is lesser known as compared to other species of Phyllostachys. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the proximate composition, vitamins, amino acids, minerals, bioactive components and antinutrient content of edible shoots of P. mannii Gamble. Results revealed that shoots contain adequate amount of protein (3.24 ± 0.03 g/100g FW), carbohydrate (2.73 ± 0.02 g/100g FW), vitamin C (3.23 ± 0.05 mg/100g FW) and are low in fat (0.44 ± 0.01 g/100g FW). Nineteen amino acids were detected in the shoots which includes eight essential, five conditionally essential and six non essential. Of all amino acids, the content was recorded minimum (1.05 ± 0.19 µg/mg DW) in ornithine and maximum (111.04 ± 9.59 µg/mg DW) in asparagine. WDXRF analysis detected 13 minerals in the shoots which includes eight macro and five microminerals with K (6660 ± 40 mg/kg DW) and P (930 ± 20 mg/kg DW) as dominant macromineral and Fe (9.1 ± 0.4 mg/kg DW) and Zn (10 ± 0.0 mg/kg DW) as dominant micromineral. Shoots are rich in phytosterols (265.49 ± 3.16 mg/100 g DW), phenols (382.23 ± 2.08 mg/100 g FW) and neutral detergent fiber (5.72 ± 0.03 g/100 g FW). Present results showed low cyanogen (36.22 ± 0.11 mg/kg FW) content in P. mannii compared to other bamboos and thus considered to be safe for consumption. Overall results indicate the richness of nutritional and bioactive compounds in Phyllostachys mannii which has thus potential to be used nutritious vegetable and as an ideal ingredient in functional food formulations and pharmaceuticals.