Objective In order to provide some theoretical basis about fertilization for the cultivation management of high-quality Phyllostachys violascens shoots. We study on the effects of Bacillus subtilis and silicon fertilizer on the yield and quality of bamboo shoots in Phyllostachys violascens under mulching treatment.

MethodsIn the Phyllostachys violascens forests, before mulching in winter, three fertilization treatments were set up: BS (compound fertilizer 750 kg·hm⁻² + Bacillus subtilis 37.5 L·hm⁻²), SI (compound fertilizer 750 kg·hm⁻² + silicon fertilizer 675 kg·hm⁻²) and CK (compound fertilizer 750 kg·hm⁻²). The changes in yield, appearance, nutrition and palatability of bamboo shoots under each treatment were analyzed.

ResultsThe application of Bacillus subtilis or silicon fertilizer had different effects on the quality of bamboo shoots. Comparing with the traditional fertilization, the characteristics of bamboo shoots with treatments were listed as follows: (1) The bamboo shoots thickness, single plant quality and output increased. Among them, the application of Bacillus subtilis made the bamboo shoots sprout in advance by 9 days, and extended the shoot emergence period by 12 days. The bamboo shoot yield increased significantly, with an increase of 85.60%. (2) Bamboo shoots showed the high protein and low carbon water, with reduced roughness, in which the protein content increased significantly, with an increase of 21.81% and 17.46%. The contents of essential amino acids and total amino acids in bamboo shoots increased significantly. The proportion of bitter and aromatic amino acids increased significantly, while the proportion of sweet amino acids decreased significantly, and that of delicious amino acids did not change significantly. In addition, the contents of starch, lignin and cellulose decreased significantly, but the change in fat content did not change significantly. (3) The soluble sugar content and sugar-acid ratio of bamboo shoots increased, and the content of oxalic acid and total acid did not change significantly. However the content of tannin decreased significantly after the addition of silicon fertilizer, with a decrease of 41.76%.

Conclusion Applying Bacillus subtilis or silicon fertilizer before mulching, Phyllostachys violascens forest can improve the yield, nutritional quality and palatability of bamboo shoots, and achieve the effect of improving quality and increasing production.