Buckwheat ( Fagopyrum esculentum) or common buckwheat
Despite its name, buckwheat is not closely related to wheat, nor is it a cereal or a member of the Poaceae. It is related to sorrel, Polygonum, and rhubarb. Buckwheat is considered a pseudocereal because the high starch content of the seeds enables buckwheat to be cooked and consumed like a cereal.
Etymology
The name "buckwheat" or "beech wheat" comes from its
tetrahedral seeds, which resemble the much larger seeds of the beech nut from the
beech, and the fact that it is used like wheat. The word may be a translation of
Middle Dutch boecweite: boec "beech" (Modern Dutch beuk; see PIE *
bhago-) and weite "wheat" (Mod. Dut. tarwe, antiquated weit), or may be a native formation on the same model as the Dutch word.
Description
Buckwheat is a herbaceous annual flowering plant growing to about , with red stems and pink and white flowers resembling those of knotweeds.
The leaves are arrow-shaped and the fruits are
Achene about 5–7 mm with 3 prominent sharp angles.
Distribution
Fagopyrum esculentum is native to south-central China and Tibet,
and has been introduced into suitable climates across Eurasia, Africa and the Americas.
History
The wild ancestor of common buckwheat is
F. esculentum ssp.
ancestrale.
F. homotropicum is interfertile with
F. esculentum and the wild forms have a common distribution, in Yunnan, a southwestern province of China. The wild ancestor of tartary buckwheat is
F. tataricum ssp.
potanini.
Common buckwheat was domesticated and first cultivated in inland Southeast Asia, possibly around 6000 BC, and from there spread to Central Asia and Tibet, and then to the Middle East and Europe, which it reached by the 15th century.
The oldest remains found in China so far date to 2600 BC, while buckwheat pollen found in Japan dates from as early as 4000 BC. It is the world's highest-elevation domesticate, being cultivated in Yunnan on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau or on the plateau itself. Buckwheat was one of the earliest crops introduced by Europeans to North America. Dispersal around the globe was complete by 2006, when a variety developed in Canada was widely planted in China. In India, buckwheat flour is known as kuttu ka atta and has long been culturally associated with many festivals like Shivratri, Navaratri and Janmashtami. On the day of these festivals, food items made only from buckwheat are consumed.
Cultivation
Buckwheat is a short-season crop that grows well in low-fertility or acidic soils; too much fertilizer – especially nitrogen – reduces yields, and the soil must be well drained. In hot climates buckwheat can be grown only by sowing late in the season, so that it blooms in cooler weather. The presence of
greatly increases yield.
Nectar from flowering buckwheat produces a dark-colored honey.
The buckwheat plant has a branching root system with a primary taproot that reaches deeply into moist soil.
Buckwheat is raised for grain where only a brief time is available for growth, either because the buckwheat is an early or a second crop in the season, or because the total growing season is limited. It establishes quickly, which suppresses summer weeds, and can be a reliable cover crop in summer to fit a small slot of warm season.
Production
+ Buckwheat production
|
| 1,149,067 |
| 504,266 |
| 210,720 |
| 86,679 |
| 83,491 |
| 64,611 |
| 2,204,015 |
|
In 2023, world production of buckwheat was 2.2 million tonnes, led by Russia with 52% of the total, with China and Ukraine as secondary producers (table).
Biological control
F. esculentum may be used as a pollen and nectar source to increase natural predator numbers to control crop pests.
Phytochemicals
Buckwheat contains diverse
, including
rutin,
, catechin-7-O-glucoside in groats,
and
,
which are located mainly in the
of the buckwheat plant.
It has almost no levels of inorganic arsenic.
Aromatic compounds
Salicylaldehyde (2-hydroxybenzaldehyde) was identified as a characteristic component of buckwheat aroma.
2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, phenylacetaldehyde, 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, (E)-2-nonenal,
decanal and
hexanal also contribute to its aroma. They all have odour activity value of more than 50, but the aroma of these substances in an isolated state does not resemble buckwheat.
Nutrition
Raw dry buckwheat is 10% water, 72%
, 13% protein, and 3%
fat (table). In a reference amount of , dry buckwheat supplies 343
of
food energy, and is a rich source (20% or more of the
Daily Value, DV) of three
B vitamins (
riboflavin,
niacin,
pantothenic acid) and several dietary minerals (table).
Gluten-free
As buckwheat contains no
gluten, it may be eaten by people with gluten-related disorders, such as
coeliac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity or dermatitis herpetiformis.
Nevertheless, buckwheat products may have gluten contamination.
Potential adverse effects
Cases of severe
Allergy reactions to buckwheat and buckwheat-containing products have been reported.
Buckwheat contains
fluorescent phototoxic .
Seeds, flour, and teas are generally safe when consumed in normal amounts, but fagopyrism can appear in people with diets based on high consumption of buckwheat sprouts, and particularly flowers or fagopyrin-rich buckwheat extracts.
Symptoms of fagopyrism in humans may include skin
inflammation in sunlight-exposed areas, cold sensitivity, and tingling or numbness in the hands.
Culinary use
The fruit is an
achene, similar to
sunflower seed, with a single seed inside a hard outer hull. The starchy
endosperm is white and makes up most or all of buckwheat
flour. The seed coat is green or tan, which darkens buckwheat flour. The hull is dark brown or black, and some may be included in buckwheat flour as dark specks. The dark flour is known as
blé noir (black wheat) in French, along with the name
sarrasin (
saracen). Similarly, in Italy, it is known as
grano saraceno (saracen grain).
The grain can be prepared by simple dehulling, milling into farina, to whole-grain flour or to white flour. The grain can be fractionated into starch, germ and hull for specialized uses.
Buckwheat groats are commonly used in western Asia and eastern Europe. The porridge was common, and is often considered the definitive peasant dish. It is made from groats that are cooked with broth to a texture similar to rice or bulgur. The dish was taken to America by Jewish, Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish people immigrants who called it kasha, as it is known today, who mixed it with pasta or used it as a filling for cabbage rolls (stuffed cabbage), , and . Groats were the most widely used form of buckwheat worldwide during the 20th century, eaten primarily in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Poland, called grechka ('Greek grain') in Belarusian, Ukrainian, and Russian languages.
Buckwheat have been eaten in Tibet and northern China for centuries, where the growing season is too short to raise wheat. A wooden press is used to press the dough into hot boiling water when making buckwheat noodles. Old presses found in Tibet and Shanxi share the same basic design features. The Japanese and Koreans may have learned the process of making buckwheat noodles from them.
Buckwheat noodles play a major role in the cuisines of Japan ( soba)
Noodles also appear in Italy, with pasta di grano saraceno in Apulia region of Southern Italy and pizzoccheri in the Valtellina region of Northern Italy.
Buckwheat are eaten in several countries. They are known as buckwheat blini in Russia, kaletez in France, in Acadia, poffertjes in the Netherlands, boûketes in the Wallonia region of Belgium, kuttu ki puri in India and kachhyamba in Nepal. Similar pancakes were a common food in American pioneer days.
Yeasted patties called hrechanyky are made in Ukraine.
Buckwheat is a permitted sustenance during fasting in several traditions. In India, on Hindu fasting days (Navaratri, Ekadashi, Janmashtami, Maha Shivaratri, etc.), fasting people in northern states of India eat foods made of buckwheat flour. Eating cereals such as wheat or rice is prohibited during such fasting days. While strict Hindus do not even drink water during their fast, others give up cereals and salt and instead eat non-cereal foods such as buckwheat ( kuttu). In the Russian Orthodox tradition, it is eaten on the St. Philip fast.
Buckwheat honey is dark, strong and aromatic. Because it does not complement other honeys, it is normally produced as a monofloral honey.
Japanese Zaru Soba02.jpg|Soba noodles made from buckwheat flour
Kuttu Pakoras from India.jpg| Kuttu ke Pakora, a snack made from buckwheat flour, India
Chalamthang 7.jpg|Buckwheat bread (roti) with potato curry and sour curd, Sikkim, India
File:Гречневая_каша.jpg|Grechka of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus
Esno4Wkmana_jul_2014_Cassnam_066.jpg| Pizzoccheri, the Northern Italian pasta made with buckwheat
Beverages
Tea
Buckwheat tea, known as
kuqiao-cha (苦荞茶) in China,
memil-cha (메밀차) in Korea and
soba-cha (蕎麦茶) in Japan, is a tea made from roasted buckwheat.
Beer
In recent years, buckwheat has been used as a substitute for other grains in
gluten-free beer. Although it is not an actual cereal (being a pseudocereal), buckwheat can be used in the same way as
barley to produce a
malt that can form the basis of a
mashing that will brew a
beer without
gliadin or
hordein (together
gluten) and therefore can be suitable for
coeliac disease or others sensitive to certain
glycoproteins.
[
]
Whisky
Buckwheat whisky is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made entirely or principally from buckwheat. It is produced in the
Brittany region of
France and in the
United States.
Shōchū
Buckwheat shōchū is a Japanese distilled beverage produced since the 16th century. The taste is milder than barley shōchū.
Upholstery filling
Buckwheat hulls are used as filling for a variety of
upholstery goods, including
. The hulls are durable and do not insulate or reflect heat as much as synthetic filling. They are sometimes marketed as an alternative natural filling to feathers for those with allergies. However, medical studies to measure the health effects of pillows manufactured with
unprocessed and
uncleaned hulls concluded that such buckwheat pillows do contain higher levels of a potential allergen that may trigger
asthma in susceptible individuals than do new synthetic-filled pillows.
See also
External links
