Tartary Buckwheat: An Under-utilized Edible and Medicinal Herb for Food and Nutritional Security

ABSTRACT

The nutritional value of Tartary buckwheat is much higher than that of common buckwheat. Tartary buckwheat is rich in nutrients, some of them unique, and has good medicinal properties. It also serves as a good feed crop. This review aims to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive literature on Tartary buckwheat’s active substances (proteins, polyphenols, D-chiro-inositol, fat-soluble substances, resistant starch, dietary fiber, minerals and vitamins), medicinal value (e.g., prevention of AIDS, and prevention and treatment of cancer, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases) and nutritional effects (as an antioxidant, in lowering blood pressure, blood fat, and blood sugar, for detoxification and weight loss), etc., and research activities connected to Tartary buckwheat and its health effects in China and abroad. This review is expected to present a reference for the further development and utilization of Tartary buckwheat.

KEYWORDS:

• Fagopyrum tataricum
• nutritional component
• medicinal value
• nutritional effect

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Ruhong Xu (Guizhou University) for fruitful discussions on this work and Suqin Zhang (National Wheat Improvement Center, Guizhou Sub-center, University of Guizhou) for critical reading of the manuscript.

Authors’ contributions

Meiliang Zhou and Jingjun Ruan designed the review. Wenfeng Weng and Kaixuan Zhang collected the data and drafted the manuscript. Jun Yan and Jianping Cheng contributed to draw tables and plots. Yuexia Zhou responsibility for the project, contributed the manuscript revision. Sun-Hee Woo and Jingjun Ruan contributed to the method development and manuscript revision.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2017YFE0117600), Regional Funds of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31660531) and Guizhou Science and Technology Support Project (No. 20182292).