Dear Daphne Lewis and all,
The other day I started a discussion about this subject of the bitterness of bamboo shoots in another forum, but only you Daphne honored me with your comments. So I hope to find more responses in Bamboo Plantations.
Usually the bitterness is expressed quantitatively as the cyanide concentration of the shoots, as can be seen in INBAR's Working Paper Nr. 39 - Cyanide in Bamboo Shoots. But, the authors of this publication conclude, that insufficient data are available worldwide, partly because it's not a big issue in the main bamboo shoot consuming countries of the Far East, like China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, among others. This is because cyanide contend is much dependant on the species and fortunately the lowest cyanide content species are also the most consumed. In my country, Brazil, shoot consumption is basically restricted to Asian food restaurants and to rural communities of Japanese descendants. But the government is investing now in the bamboo production chain development and therefore much more knowledge is needed.
My questions: does the cyanide content also depend on soil conditions and climate? Or better: does anyone have data of cyanide content of shoots of the same species, but grown under different soil and climate conditions? Is it safe to start a plantation for shoot production based only on the recommended type of species, without considering soil and climate conditions?
Thanks in advance.
Hans Kleine
Florianópolis/Brazil
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