Traditionally, people in the north can not eat "fresh bamboo shoots". Years ago, only dried bamboo shoots or canned bamboo shoots were available, and later "salted bamboo shoots" or "seasoned bamboo shoots" were better than dried bamboo shoots. So much so that when I was in college, I talked about bamboo shoots with my northern classmates. People who had eaten bamboo shoots felt that they were not good enough. I deeply felt that what I ate and what they ate were actually two kinds of things.

 

 

 

Pictures from the Internet

 

With the development of logistics, in recent years, many bamboo shoots with soil and bamboo shoot shells have appeared in the electronic commerce and the northern market. It seems to announce to people that I am the real "fresh shoot"! It is full of original bamboo shoot shells and soil, but also attracted countless consumers.

 

Bamboo shoots are the young buds of bamboo and the most vigorous growth stage of bamboo life. It is not exaggerated to describe the rapid emergence of new things as "bamboo shoots after rain".

 

When people pull bamboo shoots out, they just destroy their normal growth pattern. Stopping getting water and nutrients from the soil does not stop its metabolism. Researchers have tested that the bamboo shoots are still breathing, reaching a peak in five hours. In this process, some of the carbohydrates in bamboo shoots are converted into fibers, which hardens the bamboo. In the countryside, if bamboo shoots were not processed on the same day, they would harden significantly the next day, and the fresh and sweet bamboo shoots would also taste worse.

 

 

 

Therefore, those "fresh bamboo shoots" with shells or even clay, in fact, only retain the appearance of "original ecology", while the heart has become old, not as "fresh" as people imagine.

 

In order to keep bamboo shoots fresh, many efforts have been made by agricultural workers. The simplest and most effective is the most traditional "killing the green". The term comes from the production of green tea, in which enzymes are inactivated by high temperatures, so that their ingredients "stay" in the tender state of picking. Carbohydrates, such as sugar and starch, do not convert into fibers after being defoliated, thus maintaining a crisp and tender taste. Moreover, the bacteria in bamboo shoots are completely destroyed, and if packaged under good hygienic conditions, they can last longer. With modern food preservation technologies, such as vacuum packaging, refrigeration, quick freezing and so on, the preservation time can be longer.

 

 

 

The shelled storage method, though more "fresh" to look at, does not really make sense. On the one hand, the pulled bamboo shoots rapidly aging and leaving only the "fresh" appearance; on the other hand, consumers still need to shell and cook at high temperature when they buy home, in order to be used as food for the next cooking. Bamboo shoots sold with shells only defer the "green killing" treatment that should have been carried out long ago until the bamboo shoots are aged.

 

However, "shelled preservation" is very attractive to consumers, and agricultural technicians have spent a lot of time to study. So far, there are all kinds of "effective" methods, but only to delay the aging of bamboo shoots. Fortunately, there is no good way to keep bamboo shoots fresh like bananas, citrus and grapes until they are supplied year round without much change. The methods that have been tried and can be used to some extent, such as "quick-freezing refrigeration by air extraction", chemical reagents, comprehensive control of temperature, gas and humidity, etc., are also difficult to be applied because of various defects.

 

For those bamboo shoots with shells sold in supermarkets, it is unlikely to take those complicated treatment and preservation, basically only the wound surface of bamboo shoots coated with a film, just like apple waxing. This film has a certain effect on bamboo shoot fresh-keeping, but it itself may become a paradise for bacterial growth, if the cleaning and hygiene is not well maintained, it may even be self-defeating. Of course, there is another problem that we often mention: strict and standardized use of film materials is safe, but if "illegal vendors" use non-edible wax, then everything will be difficult to say.