BUCKWHEAT

'Buckwheat' refers to plants in two genera of the family Polygonaceae, the Eurasian genus ''Fagopyrum'', and the North American genus ''Eriogonum''. The crop plant, common buckwheat, is ''Fagopyrum esculentum''. Tartary buckwheat (''F. tataricum'' Gaertn.) or "bitter buckwheat" is also used as a crop, but it is much less common. Despite the common name and the grain-like use of the crop, buckwheats are not grasses and are not related to wheat. The agricultural weed known as Wild Buckwheat (''Fallopia convolvulus'') is in the same family, but not closely related to the crop species.
Within ''Fagopyrum'', the cultivated species are in the cymosum group, with ''F. cymosum'' L. (perennial buckwheat), ''F. giganteum'' and ''F. homotropicum''.^[1] 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. The wild ancestor of tartary buckwheat is "F. tataricum'' ssp. ''potanini''.^[2]

Contents

Etymology

Cultivation

Use

Medicinal uses

Upholstery filling

Buckwheat and beer

Recipes

References

Footnotes

See also

External links

Etymology

The name "buckwheat" or "beech wheat" comes from its triangular seeds, which resemble the much larger seeds of the beech nut from the beech tree, and the fact that it is used like wheat. The etymology of the word is explained as partial translation of Middle Dutch boecweite : boek, beech; see PIE bhago- + weite, wheat.

Cultivation

Common buckwheat was domesticated and first cultivated in southeast Asia, possibly around 6000 BC, and from there spread to Europe and to Central Asia and Tibet. Domestication most likely took place in the western Yunnan region of China.^[3] Buckwheat is documented in Europe in the Balkans by at least the Middle Neolithic (circa 4000 BC) and the oldest known remains in China so far date to circa 2600 BC, and buckwheat pollen has been found in Japan 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.

Buckwheat is a short season crop that does well on low-fertility or acidic soils, but the soil must be well drained. Too much fertilizer, especially nitrogen, will reduce yields. In hot climates, it can only be grown by sowing late in the season, so that it will bloom in cooler weather. The presence of pollinators greatly increases the yield. The nectar from buckwheat flower makes a dark colored honey. Buckwheat is sometimes used as a green manure, as a plant for erosion control, or as wildlife cover and feed.
Common buckwheat is by far the most important buckwheat species, economically, accounting for over 90% of the world's buckwheat production. A century ago, Russia was the world leader in buckwheat production.^[4] Growing areas in the Russian Empire were estimated at 2,600,000 hectares, followed by those of France (355,000 hectares).^[5] In 1970 the Soviet Union grew an estimated 4.5 million acres (18,000 km²) of buckwheat, but has since been overtaken by China. Japan, Poland, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, and Australia also grow significant quantities of buckwheat.
In the northeastern United States, buckwheat was a common crop in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cultivation declined sharply in the 20th century due the use of nitrogen fertilizer, to which maize and wheat respond strongly. Over a million acres (4,000 km²) were harvested in the United States in 1918. By 1954 that had declined to 150,000 acres (600 km²), and by 1964, the last year that production statistics were gathered, only 50,000 acres (200 km²) were grown.

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 (exaggeratedly) as "blé noir" ("black wheat") in French, along with the name ''sarrasin'' ("saracen").

Buckwheat noodles are the major use in Japan (soba) and Korea (memil guksu). Soba noodles are the subject of deep cultural importance in Japan. The difficulty of making noodles from flour that has no gluten has resulted in a traditional art developed around their hand manufacture.
Buckwheat groats are commonly used in western Asia and eastern Europe. The porridge was common, and is often considered the distinctive peasant dish. The dish known as "kasha" is made from roasted groats are roasted that are cooked with broth to a texture similar to rice or bulgur. Groats were the most widely used form of buckwheat worldwide during the 20th century, with consumption primarily in Russia, Ukraine and Poland.
Buckwheat pancakes, sometimes raised with yeast, are eaten in several countries. They are known as buckwheat blinis in Russia, galettes in France (where they are especially associated with Brittany), ployes in Acadia and ''boûketes'' (that is, named the same as the plant they are made of) in Wallonia. Similar pancakes were a common food in American pioneer days. They are light and foamy. The buckwheat flour gives them an earthy, mildly mushroom-like taste. In Ukraine, yeast rolls called ''hrechanyky'' are made from buckwheat.
Farina made from groats are used for breakfast food, porridge, and thickening materials in soups, gravies, and dressings. In Korea, buckwheat starch is used to make a jelly called memilmuk. It is also used with wheat, maize or rice in bread and pasta products.
Buckwheat contains no gluten, and can thus be eaten by people with coeliac disease or gluten allergies. Many bread-like preparations have been developed.
Besides the seeds, from which buckwheat flour is produced, buckwheat is also a good honey plant, producing a dark, strong monofloral honey.
Buckwheat greens are not palatable to humans. If eaten in sufficient quantities, the greens, or their juice, can induce sensitization of the skin to sunlight known as fagopyrism.^[6][7] Fair skinned people are particularly susceptible, as are light pigmented livestock. Enthusiasts of sprouting, however, eat the very young buckwheat sprouts (four to five days of growth) for their subtle, nutty flavour and high nutritional value.
In the 1970s and 1980s, General Mills produced a sweetened, maple-flavored breakfast cereal made from buckwheat, which was marketed under the name ''Buc-Wheats.''

Medicinal uses

Buckwheat contains rutin, a medicinal chemical that strengthens capillary walls, reducing hemoraging in people with high blood pressure and increasing microcirculation in people with chronic venous insufficiency.^[8] Dried buckwheat leaves for tea were manufactured in Europe under the brand name "Fagorutin."
Buckwheat contains d-chiro-inositol, the cofactor missing in Type II diabetes. It is being studied for use in treating this disease. ^[9]
A buckwheat protein has been found to bind cholesterol tightly. It is being studied for reducing plasma cholesterol in people with an excess of this compound.^[10]

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 conduct or reflect heat as much as synthetic fills. They are sometimes marketed as an alternative natural fill to feathers for those with allergies.
Medical studies to measure the health effects of buckwheat hull pillows have been performed.^[11][12]

Buckwheat and beer

In recent years, buckwheat has been used as a substitute for other grain in gluten free beer. Buckwheat is used in the same way as barley to produce a "malt" that can form the basis of a mash that will brew a beer without gliadin or hordein (together "gluten") and therefore can be suitable for coeliacs or others sensitive to certain glycoproteins.^[13]

Recipes

★ Buckwheat pancakes

★ Buckwheat noodles with smoked salmon and dill

★ Recipe for Buckwheat Porridge

References

★ Alternative Field Crops Manual

★ Damania, A.B. 1998. "Diversity of Major Cultivated Plants Domesticated in the Near East".[1]

★ Chun H.N., Chung C.K., Kang I.J., Kim E.R., Kim Y.S., Division of Life Sciences at Hallym University, South Korea: Effect of Germination on the Nutritional Value of Buckwheat Seed

★ Mazza, G. 1992. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), the crop and its importance, p. 534-539. In: R. MacRae (ed.). ''Encyclopedia of food science, food technology and nutrition''. Academic Press Ltd., London.

★ Mazza, G. 1993. ''Storage, Processing, and Quality Aspects of Buckwheat Seed'', p. 251-255. In: J. Janick and J.E. Simon (eds.), New crops. Wiley, New York.

★ Marshall, H.G. and Y. Pomeranz. 1982. ''Buckwheat description, breeding, production and utilization'', p. 157-212 In: Y. Pomeranz (ed.). Advances in cereal science and technology. Amer. Assoc. Cereal Chem., St. Paul, MN.

★ McGregor, S.E. 1976. ''Insect Pollination Of Cultivated Crop Plants'', chap. 9 Crop Plants and Exotic Plants. U.S. Department of Agriculture. ''As found on the website of the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center of the USDA Agricultural Research Service''.[2]

Footnotes

1. Species relationships in ''Fagopyrum'' revealed by PCR-based DNA fingerprinting, T. Sharma, S. Jana, , , Theoretical and Applied Genetics,
2. Search for the wild ancestor of buckwheat II. Taxonomy of ''Fagopyrum'' (Polygonaceae) species based on morphology, isozymes and cpDNA variability, Ohnishi, O., Matsuoka, Y., , , Genes and Genetic Systems,
3. Search for the wild ancestor of buckwheat III. The wild ancestor of cultivated common buckwheat, and of tatary buckwheat, Ohnishi, O, , , Economic Botany,
4. For details, see William Pokhlyobkin's essay about buckwheat, available online.
5. J. R. N. Taylor, P. S. Belton. ''Pseudocereals and Less Common Cereals''. Springer, 2002. ISBN 3540429395. Page 125.
6. PDF Article by Gilles Arbour
7. ''Are Buckwheat Greens Toxic?'' Arbour, G. From the Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients.
8. Leg oedema protection from a buckwheat herb tea in patients with chronic venous insufficiency: a single-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, N. Ihme1, H. Kiesewetter, F. Jung, K. H. Hoffmann, A. Birk, A. Müller and K. I. Grützner, , , European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology,
9. Buckwheat Concentrate Reduces Serum Glucose in Streptozotocin-Diabetic Rats, Kawa, J.M., Taylor, C.G., Przybylski, R., , , J. Agric. Food Chem,
10. Stronger suppression of plasma cholesterol and enhancement of the fecal excretion of steroids by a buckwheat protein product than by a soy protein isolate in rats fed on a cholesterol-free diet., H. Tomotake, I. Shimaoka, J. Kayashita, F. Yokoyama, M. Nakajoh and N. Kato., , , Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry,
11. ''Dermatophagoides Farinae, an Important Allergenic Substance in Buckwheat-Husk Pillows'', Yonsei Medical Journal 1987 December;28(4):274-281 HTML summary, Full text PDF
12. ''Endotoxin and House Dust Mite Allergen Levels on Synthetic and Buckwheat Pillows'', Journal of Korean Medical Science, 2004; 19: 505-8
ISSN 1011-8934 PDF
13. glutenfreebeerfestival.com

See also

★ ''Eriogonum'' - wild buckwheat

External links

★ Nutritional information for buckwheat