Updated 4 January 2024
Other botanical names
- Bambusa bambos
Common names
- Spiny Bamboo
Common origins
- Asia, especially India and China
Botanical classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Division: Magnoliophyta
- Class: Liliopsida
- Order: Poales
- Family: Poaceae
- Subfamily: Bambusoideae
- Genus: Bambusa
Components
- Minerals and trace elements: Silica +++ (up to over 80% in resin extract), Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Choline, Betaine
- Vitamins: group B, C
- Cellulose
Parts used
- We use the resinous exudate of the female bamboo, produced in the nodes near the stem, called 'tabashir' (from 'tvakchira' in Sanskrit, meaning 'bark milk') or 'bamboo manna' or 'bamboo sugar'. "It is a translucent white substance rich in silica and water.
Organoleptic properties
- Odour: neutral
- Taste: sweet
Properties
- Remineralising
- Anti-inflammatory
- Maintains connective tissue elasticity and suppleness
- Promotes calcium fixation in the bones
- Boosts the body's defences
- Anti-ulcer (methanolic extracts)
Indications
- Damaged cartilage
- Brittle nails
- Dry hair
- Osteoarthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Tendonitis
- Joint pain
- Loss of joint flexibility
- Joint stiffness
- Intervertebral disc disease
- Fatigue
- Physical asthenia
- Atherosclerosis
- Cavities
Precautions / Contraindications
- No known contraindications at recommended dose.
How to use / Current dose
- In capsules, in the form of micronised powder: 250 to 300 mg 4 times a day, 20 days a month. A 3-month course is recommended for osteoporosis.
Additional information
Habitat and botanical description
It is an herbaceous perennial with a long, hollow, cylindrical stem and numerous nodes. Roots and aerial parts develop from the rhizome. Its leaves are long, narrow, pointed and evergreen. It is known to grow very fast, up to 50 cm a day! It can reach a height of 40 m and a diameter of 18 cm. The flowers are grouped in panicles and the fruits are caryopses. It only flowers before it dies, but it reproduces very quickly thanks to its suckers (shoots born from a root), so it can be invasive.
Harvest time
Tabashir is not found in all stems. The stems containing tabashir can be found by shaking them and you will hear a crackling sound caused by the pieces of dried silica concretions inside. The stems are then split to extract the tabashir.
Mythology / History / Anecdotes and traditional virtues
Bamboo's cylindrical stem contains silica around the edges, giving it excellent resistance to mechanical and climatic stresses. If we refer to Paracelsus' theory of signatures, bamboo has similarities to the spine, on which it has a specific action, and has long been known (particularly in Ayurvedic medicine in India) as a remineralising agent that maintains the suppleness of the human bone structure, as well as an anti-inflammatory. In southern India and Bengal, the wood is used in decoctions for its sudoriparous action, and the roots for their diuretic virtue.