Fagopyrum esculentum

Annual herb reaching 1.5 m tall and 0.3 m wide, growing quickly and unsuitable for shade. Frost tender with flowers appearing July to September and seeds maturing August to October. Monoecious flowers pollinated by bees and flies. Thrives in light sandy, medium loamy, or heavy clay soils with good drainage; tolerates poor nutrition, very acid to alkaline pH, and drought conditions. Notable for attracting wildlife.

Description

An upright annual herb up to 1 m high. It spreads to 1 m across. It has angular hollow stems. These are erect and branching. Leaves are heart shaped or triangular and small. It has groups of white or pink flowers. These have a smell. They occur in clusters at the ends of branches. Fruit are small and 3 angled. The plants are not grasses but the seeds are normally grouped with other grain crops.

Edible Uses

Leaves can be eaten raw or cooked like spinach. They are not particularly impressive raw but improve with cooking, and their richness in rutin makes them a very healthy addition to the diet. The seed has a nutty flavour, though a somewhat gritty texture that not everyone enjoys. It can be cooked like rice, soaked overnight in warm water and sprouted for a few days to add to salads, or ground into flour for pancakes, noodles, bread, and similar foods, and used as a thickening agent in soups. Buckwheat flour can be mixed with wheat, barley, or rye flour to improve taste and nutritional value — up to 30% buckwheat flour can be included in wheat bread dough. Because it contains no gluten, it is suitable for people with coeliac disease. The seed is rich in vitamin B6. Excellent beer can be brewed from the grain. Fresh leaves and inflorescences are used for industrial extraction of rutin, which is applied to strengthen the inner lining of blood vessels. Rutin is also used industrially as a natural pigment, antioxidant, stabiliser, food preservative, and UV light absorber.

Traditional Uses

CAUTION: The seeds are used mainly for flour and stock feed. Seeds are bitter. If they are eaten in large amounts they can produce an unpleasant skin disorder. The seeds are eaten in porridge and biscuits etc. The seeds can be made into flour and eaten in pancakes, noodles and breads or for thickening soups and gravies. Seeds can be soaked overnight then sprouted and eaten. The tender leaves and shoots are cooked and eaten. The young leaves can be stored for 4-5 days after harvest.

Medicinal Uses

Buckwheat is a bitter but pleasant-tasting herb used medicinally primarily because its leaves are a good source of rutin. Rutin dilates blood vessels, reduces capillary permeability, and lowers blood pressure, making it useful for a wide range of circulatory problems. The leaves and shoots of flowering plants are acrid, astringent, and vasodilatory, and are used internally for high blood pressure, gout, varicose veins, chilblains, and radiation damage. Vitamin C aids absorption and is best taken alongside rutin. Combined with lime flowers (Tilia species), it is a specific treatment for haemorrhage into the retina. Leaves and flowering stems are harvested as flowering begins and dried for later use — they must be stored in the dark, as active ingredients degrade rapidly in light. Some caution is warranted as the herb has been known to cause light-sensitive dermatitis. A poultice of the seeds has been used to restore milk flow in nursing mothers. An infusion of the herb has been used for erysipelas, an acute infectious skin disease. A homeopathic remedy prepared from the leaves is used for eczema and liver disorders.

Known Hazards

Cases of severe allergic reactions to buckwheat and buckwheat-containing products have been reported. Buckwheat contains fluorescent phototoxic fagopyrins. These can cause fagopyrism 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. In the U.S., the presence of buckwheat in cereal grain is considered an economic threat, since many people in the Asian markets are highly allergic to it. Grain elevators use a zero tolerance policy where the occurrence of buckwheat in a load of grain means the entire load is rejected. Buckwheat allergy is especially common in Japan, with potential reactions almost as severe as peanut allergy.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. It can be grown at high altitudes in the tropics. It will grow on poor soils. It prefers rich soils and a protected sunny position. It can grow in acid soils. It is resistant to frost but damaged by drought. In Nepal it grows between 1000-2500 m altitude. It can grow up to 4,400 m altitude. In Uttar Pradesh it grows up to 3000 m altitude. In Yunnan.

Where It Grows

Africa, Asia, Australia, Austria, Balkans, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Central Africa, Central Asia, China*, Congo DR, Cuba, Denmark, East Africa, Ecuador, England, Ethiopia, Europe, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Himalayas, Hungary, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Korea N, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Manchuria, Mediterranean, Middle East, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Moldova, North America, Northeastern India, Pacific, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, Poland, Reunion, Russia, Scandinavia, SE Asia, Serbia, Siberia, Sikkim, Slovenia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Thailand, Tibet, Uganda, Ukraine, USA, Vietnam, West Indies, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

Fagopyrum esculentum is a plant of the temperate and subtropical zones, though it can also be grown at higher elevations, generally above 1,500 metres, in the tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 17 - 27°c, but can tolerate 7 - 40°c. It is very sensitive to frost. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 700 - 1,000mm, but tolerates 400 - 1,300mm. A very easily grown plant, it prefers dry sandy soils but succeeds in most conditions, including poor, heavy or acid soils and even sub-soils. It prefers a pH in the range 5 - 6.5, tolerating 4.4 - 7.5. It prefers a cool moist climate, but it also succeeds in dry and arid regions. Hot drying temperatures and drying weather at blooming time blast the flowers and prevent seed formation. The plant has a poorly developed root system that makes it rather sensitive to drought. Fagopyrum esculentum is cultivated in many parts of the world for its edible seed. It is a prolific producer of seeds, and these are often spread by animal activity. It easily escapes from cultivation and can become established as a weed of cultivated and waste ground, though it is easy to control and does not usually become a pest. Buckwheat is a fast-growing plant that can reach its full height within 4 - 6 weeks. Flower formation starts 20 days after emergence, the plant continuing to flower until complete senescence and death of the whole plant. After the onset of flowering, the leaves and stems continue to grow while the fruits develop; hence seed ripening is very uneven, making harvesting difficult. From the middle of the flowering period onwards, when the leaf area has reached its maximum, further growth of the vegetative parts is slow, and producing ripe seed becomes the main focus of the plant. The seed is ready for harvesting 70 - 130 days after emergence, depending on cultivar and ecological conditions[141 , 183 , 299 , 418 ]. The seed is harvested when most of it (at least 75%) is mature, and most leaves have yellowed and dropped. The crop is harvested by mowing, after which the stems are bundled and put in heaps to dry. Farmers prefer to harvest early in the morning or late in the afternoon, or even at night, when the plants are slightly damp from dew, to reduce grain shattering. The average seed yield in the United States is 0.9 - 1 tonne per hectare; in Kenya, it is 1 tonne, and in Russia 1 - 1.3 tonnes; but up to 4 tonnes can be obtained. The seed ripens irregularly over a period of several weeks, so it is difficult to harvest. Plants have poor frost resistance, but they are disease and insect resistant. They inhibit the growth of winter wheat. There are some named varieties. The flowers have a pleasant sweet honey scent and are extremely attractive to bees and hoverflies.

Propagation

Sow seed in situ from mid-spring to early summer. Germination typically occurs within 5 days. Earlier sowings are intended for a seed or leaf crop; later sowings are used mainly for leaf crops or green manure.

Other Uses

An excellent green manure plant, buckwheat can be used to reclaim badly degraded soils and subsoils. A blue dye is obtained from the stems and a brown dye from the flowers. It has historically been used as feed for cattle, pigs, and chickens. As a cover crop it is the fastest-maturing of all options, flowering within 3–6 weeks and fully maturing in 11–12 weeks. It grows quickly enough to suppress weeds effectively, a use documented in North America for several centuries. It also prevents erosion, improves soil aggregate stability, and scavenges nutrients such as phosphorus and calcium, including mineralising rock phosphate. Buckwheat is an excellent plant for bee pasture — approximately one acre can provide sufficient forage for a hive, producing around 150 pounds of honey per season. Its flowers also attract beneficial insects including parasitic wasps, minute pirate bugs, insidious flower bugs, tachinid flies, ladybeetles, and hoverflies, which may prey on pests in neighbouring crops. It is sometimes included in birdseed mixes and wildlife food plot plantings.

Production

Seeds usually germinate in 5 days. It has a very short growing period from sowing to maturity. It can produce a crop of leaves in 8 weeks and seeds in 12 weeks. Seed ripen irregularly over several weeks making harvesting difficult. Under cool conditions plants flower in 7-9 months. Commercial grain yields in Australia have been up to 2.5 tonnes/ha. In India yields of 600-800 kg/ha are achieved.

Other Information

It is a commonly cultivated food plant. It is sold in local markets. Nine countries produce thousands of tons.

Notes

The plant contains rutin useful for blood conditions. The plant inhibits the germination of other seeds for a period of time. Seeds are 11% protein. It is insect pollinated.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Al-Hintta, Al-Swdaa, B lei, Brank, Bro, Buchweizen, Chutia lofa, Daran, Dayat, Dhemsi sak, Dongthe, Doron, Fafra, Fagopiro, Gamrus, Grano saraceno, Helangala, Ka-la, Koti, Kotu, Kyoubaku, Lompuk, Mach ba-goc, Mariwo, Memil, Mithe phaper, Navadna ajda, Notch-seeded buckwheat, Obul, Ogla, Ogli, Oogal, Phanpar, Phapar, Phaphar, Phaphara, Phaphra, Qiao mai, Sagad, Saracen, Sarrasin, Shari-mam, Soba, Tian qiao mai, Titaphapur, Trigo-sarraceno, Varimbazahamainty, Wakha-yendem

References (86)

• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 218
• Anderson, E. F., 1993, Plants and people of the Golden Triangle. Dioscorides Press. p 211
• Angami, A., et al, 2006, Status and potential of wild edible plants of Arunachal Pradesh. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 5(4) October 2006, pp 541-550
• Aryal, K. P., et al, 2018, Diversity and use of wild and non-cultivated edible plants in the Western Himalaya. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2018) 14:10
• Bandyopadhyay, S. et al, 2009, Wild edible plants of Koch Bihar district, West Bengal. Natural Products Radiance 8(1) 64-72

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