Buckwheat

Buckwheat
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Polygonaceae
Genus:	Fagopyrum
Species:	F. esculentum
Binomial name
Fagopyrum esculentum Moench
Synonyms[1]
Polygonum fagopyrum L. 1753 Fagopyrum cereale Raf. Fagopyrum dryandrii Fenzl Fagopyrum emarginatum (Roth) Meisn. 1840 Fagopyrum emarginatum Moench 1802 Fagopyrum fagopyrum (L.) H.Karst., invalid tautonym Fagopyrum polygonum Macloskie Fagopyrum sagittatum Gilib. Fagopyrum sarracenicum Dumort. Fagopyrum vulgare Hill ex Druce 1913 Fagopyrum vulgare T.Nees 1853 Polygonum emarginatum Roth

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) or common buckwheat^[2][3] is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. Buckwheat originated around the 6th millennium BCE in the region of what is now Yunnan Province in southwestern China. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as Fagopyrum tataricum, a domesticated food plant raised in Asia.

Despite its name, buckwheat is not closely related to wheat. Buckwheat is not a cereal, nor is it even a member of the grass family. It is related to sorrel, knotweed, and rhubarb. Buckwheat is considered a pseudocereal, because its seeds' high starch content allows them to be used in cooking like a cereal.

Etymology

The name "buckwheat" or "beech wheat" comes from its

Buckwheat is a herbaceous annual flowering plant growing to about 60 centimetres (24 in), with red stems and pink and white flowers resembling those of knotweeds.[5]^: 68 The leaves are arrow-shaped and the fruits are achenes about 5–7 mm with 3 prominent sharp angles.^[6]: 94

Distribution

Fagopyrum esculentum is native to south-central China and Tibet,^[7] and has been introduced into suitable climates across Eurasia, Africa and the Americas.^[7]

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.^[8]

Common buckwheat was domesticated and first cultivated in inland Southeast Asia, possibly around 6000 BCE, and from there spread to Central Asia and Tibet, and then to the Middle East and Europe, which it reached by the 15th century.^[9] Domestication most likely took place in the western Yunnan region of China.^[10]

The oldest remains found in China so far date to circa 2600 BCE, while buckwheat pollen found in Japan dates from as early as 4000 BCE. It is the world's highest-elevation domesticate, being cultivated in

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 pollinators greatly increases yield.^{[citation needed]} Nectar from flowering buckwheat produces a dark-colored honey.^[12]

The buckwheat plant has a branching root system with a primary taproot that reaches deeply into moist soil.^[13] It grows 75 to 125 centimetres (30 to 50 inches) tall.^[14] Buckwheat has tetrahedral seeds and produces a flower that is usually white, although can also be pink or yellow.^[15] Buckwheat branches freely, as opposed to tillering or producing suckers, enabling more complete adaption to its environment than other cereal crops.^[13]

Buckwheat is only raised for grain where 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.^[14] Buckwheat has a growing period of only 10–12 weeks^[16] and it can be grown in high latitude or northern areas.^[17] Buckwheat is sometimes used as a green manure, as a plant for erosion control or as wildlife cover and feed.^[14]

Production

In 2022, world production of buckwheat was 2.2 million tonnes, led by Russia with 55% of the world total, followed by China with 23% and Ukraine with 7%.^[18]

Buckwheat production – 2022

Country	Production (tonnes)
Russia	1,222,382
China	506,440
Ukraine	147,690
Kazakhstan	89,803
United States	85,305
Brazil	64,376
Total:	2,235,193
Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations[18]

Biological control

F. esculentum is often studied and used as a pollen and nectar source to increase natural predator numbers to control crop pests.

• 
  Field of buckwheat in Bumthang (Bhutan)
• 
  Buckwheat field near Vrchovina in the Czech Republic
• 
  Common buckwheat in flower
• 
  Buckwheat flower in close up (

  thrum

  )
• 
  Seed

  and withered flower of buckwheat
• 
  Hulled buckwheat grain

Phytochemicals

Buckwheat contains diverse phytochemicals, including rutin, tannins, catechin-7-O-glucoside in groats,^[27][28] and fagopyrins,^[29][30][31] which are located mainly in the cotyledons of the buckwheat plant.^[32] It has almost no levels of inorganic arsenic.^[33]

Aromatic compounds

As buckwheat contains no gluten, it may be eaten by people with gluten-related disorders, such as celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity or dermatitis herpetiformis.^[36][37] Nevertheless, buckwheat products may have gluten contamination.^[36]

Potential adverse effects

Cases of severe

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The fruit is an

Buckwheat noodles 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 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 pancakes are eaten in several countries. They are known as buckwheat blini in Russia, galettes bretonnes in France, ployes 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.^[42] They are light and airy when baked. The buckwheat flour gives the pancakes an earthy, mildly mushroom-like taste.

Yeasted patties called hrechanyky are made in Ukraine.

Buckwheat is a permitted sustenance during fasting in several traditions. In India, on

• 
  Soba

  noodles

  made from buckwheat flour
• 
  Kuttu ke pakore, a snack made from buckwheat flour, India
• 
  Buckwheat bread (roti) with potato curry and sour curd, Sikkim, India
• 
  Grechka

  of Russia and Ukraine and Belarus

Beverages

Beer

In recent years, buckwheat has been used as a substitute for other grains in

Main article:

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 (焼酎) is a Japanese distilled beverage produced since the 16th Century. The taste is milder than barley shōchū.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[45]

Upholstery filling

Buckwheat hulls are used as filling for a variety of upholstered goods, including pillows and zafu. 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.^[46][47]

See also

• List of buckwheat dishes
• Eriogonum – Genus of North American wild buckwheats

References

1. ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". theplantlist.org. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
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3. ^ "USDA GRIN Taxonomy". Retrieved 16 December 2014.
4. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
5. ISBN 978-1408179505
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6. ISBN 978-1-5272-2630-2
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7. ^ ^{a b} "Fagopyrum esculentum Moench". Plants of the world online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
8. doi:10.1266/ggs.71.383
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9. ^ Weekly, Ernest (1967). "Buckwheat". An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English. Dover Publications. p. 211.
10. S2CID 22902898
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11. ^ Bhaduri, Niti Pathak; Prajneshu, Meenakshi (2016). "Kuttu (Buckwheat): A Promising Staple Food Grain for Our Diet". Journal of Innovation for Inclusive Development. 1: 43–45. Archived from the original on 2018-10-18. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
12. PMID 23871027
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13. ^ ^{a b} Stone, J.L. (1906). Buckwheat. Agricultural experiment station of the College of Agriculture Department of Agronomy (Report). Bulletin. Vol. 238. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University. pp. 184–193.
14. ^ ^{a b c} Björkman, T.; Bellinder, R.R.; Hahn, R.R. & Shail, J. (2008). Buckwheat Cover Crop Handbook (Report). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.
15. S2CID 13049923
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16. Canadian Department of Agriculture
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17. U.S. Department of Agriculture
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18. ^ ^{a b} "FAOSTAT". www.fao.org. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
19. ^
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21. S2CID 36541192
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22. ^
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25. ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". Retrieved 2024-03-28.
26. PMID 30844154.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
27. ^ "Phenol-Explorer: Showing report on Cereals". Phenol-explorer.eu. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
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29. ^
    doi:10.1626/pps.12.475
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30. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.02.073
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31. PMID 24054263
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32. PMID 24451079
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33. ^ "Yes, There Is Arsenic In Your Rice. Here's What You Need To Know". HuffPost. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
34. PMID 26003350
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35. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.05.048
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36. ^
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37. ^ "Eating, Diet, & Nutrition for Celiac Disease". National Institutes of Health. June 2016.
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39. ^
    PMID 26024291
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40. ^ "Grano Saraceno".
41. ISBN 978-3-540-42939-5
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42. ISBN 978-0-313-32988-3
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43. ^ "What to Eat During the Fast". Orthodox Christianity.com. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
44. ^ Carolyn Smagalski (2006). "Gluten Free Beer Festival". glutenfreebeerfestival.com. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
45. ^ Kim, Dakota (22 October 2015). "10 Strange and Wonderful Korean Teas". Paste. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
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External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Buckwheat".

• Media related to Fagopyrum esculentum (Buckwheat) at Wikimedia Commons