Comparison of Plant Morphology, Yield and Nutritional Quality of Fagopyrum esculentum and Fagopyrum tataricum Grown under Field Conditions in Belgium

Abstract

Buckwheat is a pseudocereal with high nutritional and nutraceutical properties. Although common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is the main cultivated species, Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) is gaining interest. In this paper, we compared plant growth, yield-related parameters and seed nutritional qualities of two varieties of F. esculentum and F. tataricum under field conditions in Belgium. Fagopyrum esculentum flowered earlier, produced less nodes, less branches, less inflorescences, but more flowers per inflorescence than F. tataricum. The yield was higher in F. tataricum, while the thousand-grain weight was higher in F. esculentum. Yield ranged between 2037 kg/ha and 3667 kg/ha depending on the species and year. Regarding nutritional qualities, seeds of F. esculentum contained more proteins (15.4% vs. 12.8%) than seeds of F. tataricum although their amino acid profile was similar. Seeds of F. esculentum contained also more Mg (1.36 vs. 1.15 mg/g dry weight (DW)) and less Fe (22.9 vs. 32.6 µg/g DW) and Zn (19.6 vs. 24.5 µg/g DW) than F. tataricum. The main difference between seed nutritional quality was the concentration of flavonoids that was 60 times higher in F. tataricum than in F. esculentum. Both species grow well under Belgian conditions and showed good seed quality.

Bioactive Compounds in Different Buckwheat Species

“…In this study we measured the concentrations of the nine elements in the buckwheat whole grains samples, and we found significant differences in the Cu, Mn, Fe, Zn, Mg, Ca, Na, K, and P contents of the buckwheat samples. Of the measured minerals, K was the most abundant macroelement in the buckwheat grains, which is confirmed in studies [ 23 , 28 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. In this study, we found differences between tested genotypes in mineral content.…”

“…Guo et al [ 7 ] reported that rutin content in tartary buckwheat ranges from 2077 to 3149 μmol /100 g DW. In our experiment, the rutin level in F. tataricum seeds was 15 times higher, while in Aubert et al [ 23 ] experiment was 60 times higher. We found differences between cultivars of the same species for the rutin content.…”

“…LIT 1 compared to 63481. The differences between cultivars in rutin content were confirmed by [ 7 , 22 ] but not by [ 23 ]. The differences in flavonoid accumulation in tartary vs. common buckwheat, rutin in particular, can be explained by the differences in gene expression of genes involved in the flavonoid synthesis pathway.…”

“…The big difference in rutin content among species is confirmed in the literature [ 22 ]. For example, Aubert et al [ 23 ] prove that the rutin level in Fagopyrum tataricum cultivars ranges from 3.44 to 3.79 mg·g −1 FW, while in F. esculentum cultivar it ranges from 0.1 to 0.02 mg·g −1 FW. Guo et al [ 7 ] reported that rutin content in tartary buckwheat ranges from 2077 to 3149 μmol /100 g DW.…”

Tartary Buckwheat in Human Nutrition

“…It is also more drought resistant than common buckwheat. Indeed, Tartary buckwheat has traits of drought tolerance, while common buckwheat has properties of drought avoidance [9].…”