Made with young grass stalks, the product was developed at the Faculty of Food Engineering
Healthy eating is on the Brazilian table. The trend is noticeable not only in supermarkets, where the number of products labeled as “natural” is increasing, but also in the industry, which is looking for alternatives to ingredients that are harmful to health. Coordinated by professor Maria Teresa Pedrosa Clerici, from the Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA) at Unicamp, researchers developed bamboo flour, which has nutritional advantages when compared to wheat, corn and cassava flour. The product has been successfully tested in the preparation of pasta (fettuccine) and biscuits (cookie).
“This ingredient, made from young bamboo stalks, has only 24 g of carbohydrates compared to the 82 g of corn flour, for example. Another difference is the amount of fiber – 50 g are found in the grass, compared to just 1,9 g in the composition of cassava flour”, explains the coordinator of the research, which was financed by Fapesp.
Bamboo shoots, used in oriental cuisine, are known for being rich in nutrients and low in fat. “It helps reduce cholesterol levels and also has anticarcinogenic properties. From then on, we discovered that young bamboo stalks are also edible and contain compounds that are beneficial to health, with fibers of excellent quality for human consumption,” reveals Clerici.
Benefits
When used in the preparation of biscuits of the type cookie, flour from young bamboo stalks can reduce sugar and fat by 50% compared to traditional ones, according to Maria Hermínia Ferrari Felisberto, who researched the applicability of the ingredient in her doctoral thesis. The useful life of the cookie was also expanded, since its storage did not require special conditions to remain suitable for consumption.
Brazil is the second largest producer of biscuits in the world, behind only the USA, with an annual per capita consumption of six and a half kilos. “We hope that so many advantages will attract the attention of the food industry, so that the product leaves the laboratories and begins to be sold soon”, declares Clerici.
Another advantage is that the fiber from young bamboo stalks does not compromise the flavor or color of the product, making it ideal for pasta, as some consumers may reject whole-grain pasta, with a dark color and a different flavor. These characteristics make the flavor similar to that of biscuits found in the supermarket, according to the result presented in the master's thesis by food engineer Amanda Rios Ferreira, who also used the flour in the preparation of fettuccine-type pasta.
In the dough, semolina was replaced by flour developed in the laboratory. The result was positive. Just as we cookies, the reduction in the glycemic index and the increase in the amount of fiber resulted in a healthier food. In the sensory test carried out by the laboratory, the noodles had a good acceptance rate, receiving scores above 6.
“Wholegrain products sold in supermarkets generally have a dark color due to the addition of bran. With flour from young bamboo stalks, we have the benefits of 'whole' food, but with the appearance of 'traditional' food”, explains the food engineer.
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According to professor Antonio Beraldo, invited to take part in the research and co-author of the book Bambu: de corpo e alma, Brazil, as a country where the climate is hot and the rain is abundant, has a vast diversity of bamboo species, from small to large. Its sprout has a significant export from China to Japan, worth around 300 million dollars per year. The possibility of using the grass in various areas, such as food, industry and civil construction, makes bamboo an economically interesting product.  And these are exactly the disadvantages that bamboo can present when applied in the construction sector, such as the fact that it ferments and woodworms quite easily, which are excellent indications for use in the food and biotechnological products sector. Furthermore, the grass has a high annual yield, as its growth is rapid, with a maximum starch production peak in 36 months. “The culms reproduce asexually and do not require replanting. Once replanted, it regenerates. To extract it, it is only necessary to cut 20% to 30% of the shoots and its clumps last for more than a hundred years” explains Beraldo. Because it contains starch, sugars and fiber that provide satiety and have beneficial effects on health, young bamboo stalk flour also has potential for use in emerging countries, such as in measures to combat hunger and malnutrition. This feat earned researchers Mária Hermínia Ferrari Felisberto, Patrícia Myake, Antonio Beraldo and Maria Teresa Clerici national and international recognition last year. The group was awarded the Josué de Castro Prize for Combating Hunger and the AACCI for young researchers, in San Diego, in the United States. While it is not commercialized, the team hopes to increase the number of researchers and attract people interested in facilitating and consolidating research. “There is ongoing work on bamboo shoots, but there are no records of research involving its fibers used in the food sector. We are pioneers in Brazil and even worldwide”, guarantees Professor Beraldo.
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