BAMBOO MANNA 



BAMBOOS 



Edible 



Edible 

 Structures. 



\( '(. (mn-.ia tie Orta, 1563, dull., li. ; 1 157H) in Clusius, 



Jh*t. K.rt. /'/.. 259; Lmsrlioten, Voy. t 1598, ii., 5i ; I'iso, ManL Arom., 

 in //,/. I'tri. re Nat. et Med., 185-7 ; Mandelslo, Trav., lnd. t 1639, 149 J 



/ Jlble Leaves, Seeds and Shoots. In the brief abstract of infor- 

 iu;iti>n nivni above as an alphabetical enumeration of the more important 

 <>l Indian bamboos, mention will be found of those that are specially 

 as Fi'in-Ki:. Some are highly prized (especially for horses), others Dodder. 

 as very indifferent fodders, and still others (such as /*. ntimi) used 

 inly as cattle MEDICINES. It has already been stated that in times of Medicine 

 n-it.v bamboo GRAIN has saved the lives of thousands of human beings. Grain. 

 anv instances are on record of the providential flowering of the bamboo 

 in times of famine. The grain is pounded in the ordinary way in order 

 remove the husk, then milled until reduced to a coarse meal or flour. 

 n that form, either by itself or after being mixed with rice or judr, it is 

 liakt-tl into cakes (ckapotis) and thus eaten. The young SHOOTS constitute 

 ;i most important article of food all over India, nearly every bamboo 

 i>ciiiL, r eaten in this stage ; but the larger species are most generally 

 Freed from the sheaths and hairs, they are cut up into small pieces 

 id eaten in curries. They are also pickled or boiled into preserves. The 

 shoots of the smaller species if boiled in water with a little salt 

 mble an inferior quality of asparagus. [Cf. Nisbet, Ind. For., 1895, 

 ., 98-100 ; also Wallinger, xxvii., 226-8.] 

 Chemical Composition. The most complete analysis yet published Chemistry. 

 i bamboo grain is that given by Prof. A. H. Church (Food-Grains Ind., 

 uppl., 1901,6), which shows in 100 parts: water 13'5, albuminoids 10*8, 

 ch 7T6, oil 0'6, fibre 2*1, and ash 1'4. " The above-stated per- 

 ntage of albuminoids, calculated from the total nitrogen present in 

 e grain, gives us the nutrient ratio 1 : 6*7, the nutrient value being 

 5." This was the result obtained from the examination of a sample of 

 Tnlda. Church adds that the grains were much larger than those 

 f /. (trtnnfiixicca though similar in chemical composition. Prof. 

 . Thomson of Glasgow found the ash of bamboo grain to consist of silica 

 50 per cent., potash T10 per cent., peroxide of iron 0'90 per cent., 

 alumina 0'40 per cent., moisture 4*87 per cent., loss 2'23 per cent. 



Manna. In March 1900, Mr. A. E. Lowrie, Forest Divisional Officer, Manna. 

 lhanda, sent me a sample of bamboo manna. This was chemically 

 ualysed at my request by Mr. D. Hooper and his results published in The 

 Agricultural Ledger (1900, No. 17). Mr. Lowrie wrote as follows : " About 

 the middle of last month I went through the area of DcndrocHlftiiiiis 

 seeded forests and found that, though most of the bamboo 

 clumps were far advanced in seed, small stretches were still flowering, 

 and strange to say, in the drier portions of the forest on poor soil, very 

 stony and chiefly laterite. It was while passing through one of these 

 tracts that I noticed the culms in the clumps streaked all the way down 

 with what appeared to me to be a white brittle gum, similar to what one 

 sees exuding from <)<timt H'otl ier. On asking some of the Gonds (local 

 men) who were with me, what it was, they could not tell me and had Never seen 

 never seen it before. I at once collected some, and on tasting it, found bfore< 

 that it was perfectly sweet. The men then began collecting it by handfuls. 

 I also collected some and send you a tinful in case you would care to 

 have it. On reaching camp I got hold of a number of the villagers, both 

 ( HUM Is and others, and on inquiry they told me they had never seen or heard 



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