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Giant thorny bamboo (Bambusa bambos)

Datasheet

Description
Click on the "Nutritional aspects" tab for recommendations for ruminants, pigs, poultry, rabbits, horses, fish and crustaceans
Bamboo leaves
Entire plant
Giant thorny bamboo, Singapore
Common names 

Giant thorny bamboo, Indian thorny bamboo, spiny bamboo, thorny bamboo [English]; bambou roseau [French]; bambu espinoso [Portuguese]; bambú [Spanish]; ක‍ටු උණ [Sinhala]; Tre nghệ [Vietnamese]

Species 

Bambusa bambos (L.) Voss [Poaceae]

Synonyms 

Bambos arundinacea Retz., Arundo bambos L., Bambusa arundinacea Retz.

Feed categories 
Related feed(s) 
Description 

Bambusa bambos is a perennial Poaceae with a 24-32 year life cycle. It grows in erect clumps up to 20-35 m high. It is thick walled, with a diameter of 8-18 cm. There are 1-3 spines at each branch node. Leaves are thin, linear, up to 20 cm long. It takes 12 years to reach maturity. Flowering is gregarious and occurs after about 16 years. After flowering, seedling is profuse and the clump dies soon afterwards (Duke, 1983). Bambusa bambos is cultivated for building and scaffolding material.

The leaves can be used as fodder while shoots can be considered as vegetables and prepared to make food (Duriyaprapan et al., 1995). The seeds are edible and used in times of food scarcity (Freedman, 2009). The shoot shells, a by-product of the industrial canning of bamboo shoots, are available as both fresh and boiled material, and can be used as feedstuffs (Liu et al., 2000).

Distribution 

Bambusa bambos is native to India, Southeastern Asia and Southern China. It is now cultivated throughout the tropics, in Southeastern Asia and especially in East Java, Singapore, the Malaysian Peninsular, Thailand and the Philippines.

Generally, bamboos grow between the latitudes 40°N and S, but grow best under frost-free conditions: the big bamboo forests usually occur between 15-25°N and S of the equator (Ecocrop, 2009). Bambusa bambos grows up to an altitude of 1000 m in the Nilgiris and hills of Southern India (Duke, 1983). It prefers rich to medium fertile soils with a good water supply.

Environmental impact 

Bambusa bambos may be used for reforestation and stabilization of eroding banks. It is often planted as wind-breaks and is recommended in agroforestry (Ecocrop, 2009).

Nutritional aspects
Potential constraints 

Bambusa bambos is reported to contain HCN (Kumar, 1991). The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of India (1948-1976) reported that young shoots contain 0.03% HCN and are poisonous if not cooked.

Ruminants 

Bamboo shoot shells included in a rice straw diet had positive effects on feed intake, growth rate and feed conversion ratio of growing heifers (Liu et al., 2000).

Nutritional tables
Tables of chemical composition and nutritional value 

Avg: average or predicted value; SD: standard deviation; Min: minimum value; Max: maximum value; Nb: number of values (samples) used

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 51.4 45.6 57.1 2
Crude protein % DM 15.7 3.1 12.5 18.6 3
Crude fibre % DM 24.1 1
NDF % DM 79.6 1
ADF % DM 51.7 1
Lignin % DM 9.5 1
Ether extract % DM 3.2 2.2 4.1 2
Ash % DM 13.0 11.8 14.2 2
Total sugars % DM 2.3 1
Gross energy MJ/kg DM 17.7 *
 
Minerals Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Calcium g/kg DM 14.2 1
Phosphorus g/kg DM 0.9 1
Magnesium g/kg DM 0.0 1
Manganese mg/kg DM 0 1
Zinc mg/kg DM 0 1
Copper mg/kg DM 0 1
Iron mg/kg DM 0 1
 
Secondary metabolites Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Tannins (eq. tannic acid) g/kg DM 16.6 1
Tannins, condensed (eq. catechin) g/kg DM 0.7 1
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant % 74.3 *
Energy digestibility, ruminants % 71.1 *
DE ruminants MJ/kg DM 12.6 *
ME ruminants MJ/kg DM 10.1 *
Nitrogen digestibility, ruminants % 72.4 1
a (N) % 30.9 1
b (N) % 38.0 1
c (N) h-1 0.049 1
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=4%) % 52 *
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=6%) % 48 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Bakshi et al., 2011; Keir et al., 1997; Sharma et al., 1968

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:10

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 12.8 1
Crude protein % DM 12.7 1
NDF % DM 73.8 1
Ash % DM 13.2 1
 
Secondary metabolites Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Tannins (eq. tannic acid) g/kg DM 3.7 1
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
a (N) % 32.8 1
b (N) % 52.6 1
c (N) h-1 0.018 1
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=4%) % 49 *
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=6%) % 45 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Liu et al., 2000

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:10

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 9.5 1
Crude protein % DM 16.0 1
NDF % DM 65.1 1
Ash % DM 13.0 1
 
Secondary metabolites Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Tannins (eq. tannic acid) g/kg DM 3.4 1
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
a (N) % 18.7 1
b (N) % 77.5 1
c (N) h-1 0.019 1
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=4%) % 44 *
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=6%) % 37 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Liu et al., 2000

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:10

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 11.4 1
Crude protein % DM 14.8 1
NDF % DM 76.6 1
Ash % DM 14.0 1
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
a (N) % 61.6 1
b (N) % 61.8 1
c (N) h-1 0.019 1
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=4%) % 82 *
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=6%) % 76 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Liu et al., 2000

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:10

References
References 
Duke, J. A., 1983. Handbook of Energy Crops. NewCROPS web site, Purdue University web icon
Duriyaprapan, S. ; Jansen, P. C. M., 1995. Bambusa bambos (L.) Voss. Record from Proseabase. Dransfield, S. & Widjaja, E.A. (Editors). PROSEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia web icon
Ecocrop, 2009. Ecocrop database. FAO web icon
Freedman, R. L., 2009. Famine foods database. Purdue University web icon
Kumar, R., 1991. Anti-nutritional factors, the potential risks of toxicity and methods to alleviate them in Legume trees and other fodder trees as protein sources for livestock. Proceedings of the FAO Expert Consultation held at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 14–18 October Editors: A. Speedy and P.L.Pugliese web icon
Liu, J. X. ; Wang, X. Q. ; Shi, Z. Q., 2000. Nutritional evaluation of bamboo shoot shell and its effect as supplementary feed on performance of heifers offered ammoniated rice straw diets. Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci., 13 (10): 1388-1393 web icon
Sharma, D. D. ; Chawla, M. S. ; Negi, S. S., 1968. Chemical composition and nutritive value of Bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea) and Kachnar (Bauhinia variegata) tree leaves. Agra Univ. J. Res., 5: 253-258
USDA, 2010. GRIN - Germplasm Resources Information Network. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland web icon
8 references found
Datasheet citation 

Heuzé V., Tran G., 2015. Giant thorny bamboo (Bambusa bambos). Feedipedia, a programme by INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/496 Last updated on May 11, 2015, 14:33

English correction by Tim Smith (Animal Science consultant) and Hélène Thiollet (AFZ)
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