br Application of bamboo in the food and pharmaceutical

Application of bamboo in the food and pharmaceutical industry For decades, the application of antioxidants in the food and pharmaceutical industry has been widespread. In the past, antioxidants were previously used to control oxidation and retard spoilage but today, many are used because of putative health benefits. With increasing health consciousness in consumers, there is much demand of food for well being and health (Kumar et al., 2017). In recent years, attention is being paid to the foods that have valuable amounts of minerals, vitamins, micronutrients, dietary fiber and antioxidants. Young bamboo culm flour has been found as a new ingredient for production of healthier food products (Felisberto, Beraldo, & Clerici, 2017). Bamboo leaf antioxidants are very effective in retarding lipid oxidation and preventing biogenic amine formation in pork sausage when combined with tea polyphenols (Fan, Yi, Zhang, & Diao, 2015). During storage of sausages, toxic biogenic amines are formed which are nitrogenous compounds formed mainly during microbial decarboxylation of aldehyde dehydrogenase and they are a concern of food safety. High amount of biogenic amine consumption may cause nausea, headache, cardiac palpitation, hypotension or hypertension, intracerebral hemorrhage and even death (Bodmer, Imark, & Kneubühl, 1999). Addition of antioxidant of bamboo leaves (AOB) combined with tea polyphenols to the sausages inhibited bacterial growth and decarboxylase-positive spoilage activities as they acted as antimicrobial agents. The efficiency of AOB on the reduction of acrylamide during thermal processing of fried chicken wings, potato chips, and French fries was demonstrated by Zhang, Chen, Zhang, Wu, and Zhang (2007a). Acrylamide is a neurotoxin with carcinogenic properties that is found in a large range of fried and baked carbohydrate rich foods. Immersion of the potato crisps and French fries into AOB solution significantly reduced the acrylamide formation retaining the original crispness and flavor of potato matrixes. Bamboo is endowed with several health beneficial properties due to which its application in the pharmaceutical industry is gaining much importance. Singh et al. (2010) studied the antimicrobial activity of the aqueous and ethanolic leaf extracts of Bambusa arundinaceae against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aurenginosa and Bacillus sp. The ethanolic extract was found to be more effective in inhibiting the microbes compared to aqueous extract against the standard penicillin. Antidiabetic activity of Sasa borealis has been studied in rats which illustrated hypoglycemic effect. The leaf extract of this bamboo was substituted for meat in patty which significantly lowered plasma glucose indicating antidiabetic activity (Panee, 2008). The anti-diabetic activity of the petroleum extract of the leaf of Bambusa vulgaris in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats were studied and it was found that oral administration of the extract for a period of 15 days was effective in significantly reducing the blood glucose level in a dose dependant manner when compared to the standard drug glibenclamide (Senthilkumar, Sivakumar, Changanakkattil, Rajesh, & Perumal, 2011). The alkaline extract prepared from the leaves of S. senanensis popularly known as “Sasa health” has been proven to have anti-tumor activity (Seki, Kida, & Maeda, 2008). Oral administration of the extract at a concentration of 0.05% or more was found to be effective in suppressing tumor growth in mouse models S-180 and C38. Anti-fatigue activity of leaf extract of various bamboo species viz. Phyllostachys nigra var henonis, Pseudosasa japonica, Bambusa tuldoides etc. have also been studied by several researchers. Zhang, Yao, Bao, and Zhang (2006) studied the anti-fatigue activity of Bambusa tuldoides using BALB/c mice models. It was found that the extract at an appropriate concentration not only could prolong the weight-loaded swimming and climbing time, but also exerted active effect on the serum urea nitrogen, hepatic glycogen and blood lactic acid level in BALB/c mice thus personified its anti-fatigue activity. Sasa quelpaertensis have been studied for its anti-obesity effects. Leaf extract (SQE) of Sasa quelpaertensis when administrated to HFD mice, it not only decreased the body weight, adipose tissue weight, serum cholesterol and triglycerides but also reduced the serum levels of several enzymes along with deposition of lipid droplets in the liver when compared to untreated mice (Kang et al., 2012).