Buckwheat (Fagopyrum species) has long been an excellent functional food. Besides, buckwheat sprouts contain various functional substances. In this study, we investigated the antioxidant activity of buckwheat sprouts in the context of cultivars harvested after different cultivation periods (0, 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, and 15 days after planting). Buckwheat sprouts were cultivated at 25oC for up to 15 days and then extracted with ethanol. Antioxidant components were then extracted from sprouts and leaves using a freeze dryer. The total polyphenolic content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity were then analyzed. The total polyphenol content increased from 32.26 mg GA eq/100 g for raw buckwheat to 114.75 mg GA eq/100 g after 7 days of cultivation. Also, the flavonoid content increased from 20.61 mg catechin eq/100 g (0 days) to 56.54 mg/g after 9 days of cultivation. The DPPH radical scavenging activity (concentration of extract at 0.25 mg/mL) increased from 7.89% at day 0 to 53.48% after 9 days of cultivation. Additionally, the ABTS radical scavenging activity increased from 10.26% at day 0 to 32.89% after 7 days of cultivation; of note, the activity decreased afterward. These results suggest that the best buckwheat sprouts with higher biological activities are those cultivated for 7-9 days. For a complete understanding of the potential of buckwheat sprouts as functional foods, we plan to further analyze their antioxidant activity in the future.

본 연구는 한국산 재래종 메밀가루를 40%, 70% 에탄올(발효주정)로 각각 처리하여 메밀 추출물을 제조하였고 이를 동결건조한 다음 고지방식이에 혼합하여 흰쥐에게 섭취시킨 후 나타나는 식이성 고지혈증의 개선효과를 확인하고자 하였다. 실험군은 정상대조군(NC), 고지방대조군(HFC), 고지방-40%에 탄올메밀추출물군(HF-40), 고지방-70%에탄올메밀추출물군(HF- 70) 4군으로 나누어 4주간 실험식이로 사육하였으며 실험 결과는 다음과 같다. 1. 실험동물의 식이섭취량과 체중증가량 및 사료효율은 실험군들 간에 유의적 차이를 보이지 않았다. 2. 실험동물의 장기 중간무게를 비교한 결과 정상대조군에 비해 고지방대조군에서 유의적으로 높았고 고지방대조군에 비해 HF-70군은 유의적으로 낮았고 (p<0.05) 정상대조군도 비슷한 수준이었다. 3. 혈중 GOT, GPT 수치는 정상대조군이 가장 낮았고 고지방대조군이 가장 높았으며 HF-40군과 HF-70군은 고지방대조군보다 낮은 경향을 보였다. 혈당 농도는 전체 실험군 중에서 HF-70군이 가장 낮은 경향을 보였다. 4. 혈중 중성지질 농도는 정상대조군에 비해 고지방대조군이 가장 높았고 정상대조군과 고지방대조군에 비해 HF-40군 이 유의적으로 낮았으며(p<0.05) 혈중 유리지방산 농도는 실험군 간에 유의적인 차이를 보이지 않았다. 5. 혈중 콜레스테롤 농도는 정상대조군에 비해 고지방대조군에서 유의적으로 높았고(p<0.05) 고지방대조군과 비교했을 때 HF-70군에서 낮은 경향을 보였으며, 혈중 유리콜레스테롤 농도는 실험군 간에 유의적인 차이가 없었다. 혈중 콜레스테롤에스터 수치는 정상대조군이 71.6mg/dl로 유의적으로 가장 낮았고 고지방대조군의 125.0mg/dl와 비교하여 HF-40군, HF- 70군은 각각 116.9mg/dl, 88.5mg/dl로 유의적으로 낮았다 (p<0.05). 특히 HF-70군은 HF-40군에 비해서도 유의하게 낮은 것으로 나타났다. 6. 혈중 LDL-콜레스테롤은 정상대조군에 비해 고지방대조군이 유의적으로 높았으며 고지방대조군(130.6mg/dl)에 비해 HF-70군(85.1mg/dl)에서 유의적으로 낮았다(p<0.05). 7. 혈중 HDL-콜레스테롤은 정상대조군에 비해 고지방식이군들이 유의적으로 낮았으며(p<0.05) 고지방실험군들 간에는 유의적인 차이가 없었다. 그러나 HDL-콜레스테롤/총콜레스테 롤의 비율은 정상대조군에 비해 고지방대조군이 유의적으로 낮았고 고지방대조군에 비해 HF-70군이 유의적으로 높았다 (p<0.05). 8. 동맥경화지수는 정상대조군이 가장 낮았으며 고지방대조군이 정상대조군에 비해 유의적으로 높았고 고지방대조군에 비해 HF-70군은 유의적으로 낮았다 (p<0.05). 본 실험에서 고지방식이를 섭취한 쥐의 이상지질혈증은 메밀 에탄올추출물에 의해 개선되었으며 40% 에탄올 메밀추출 물보다 70% 에탄올 메밀추출물에서 더욱 많이 개선되는 것으로 확인되었다.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ethanol extract of Fagopyrum escuentum(FE) on the melanogenesis. To determine whether ethanol extract of FE suppress melanin synthesis in cellular level, B16F10 melanoma cells were cultured in the presence of different concentrations of FE ethanol extract. In the present study, the author examined the effects of FE ethanol extract on cell proliferation, melanin contents, tyrosinase activity. Cell proliferation was slightly increased by treatment with ethanol extract of FE (25-200 μg/ml). The ethanol extract of FE effectively suppressed melanin contents at a dose of 100 μg/ml. It was observed that the color of cell pellets was totally whitened compared with the control. The ethanol extract of FE inhibited tyrosinase activity, regulate melanin biosynthesis as the key enzyme in melanogenesis. These results suggest that the ethanol extract of FE exerts its depigmenting effects through the suppression of tyrosinase activity. And it may be a potent depigmetation agent in hyperpigmentation condition.

Fagopyrum esculentum (Buckwheat) is a globally used alternative crop that contains several useful substances with various effects; however, many of these substances (rutin, quercetin, etc.) are water insoluble. To extract these substances, alcohols is required, which is inconvenient because these solvents cause diverse problems. Many studies are underway to achieve effective extraction of these substances with water. Among of these studies, microwave assisted water extraction (MAE) has been performed extensively. In this study, we performed the extraction in various solvents and/or microwave from Fagopyrum esculentum. The analysis of the content of useful substances and the bioactivity were performed and shown to increase in MAE. Liquid chromatography-mass was performed in order to identify of the useful water-insoluble substances. Catechin, quercetin, and rutin, which are all insoluble in water, were hardly extracted with water even on heating (4.4 ppb, 3.9 ppb and 60.3 ppb, respectively). However, MAE was found to extract much more of these substances than water (1204 ppb, 110.8 ppb and 2946 ppb, respectively). Although less efficient than alcohols, MAE showed much higher efficiency than simple water extraction. These results indicate that water extraction using microwave technology is effective in cases where it is difficult to extract useful substances using water.

We analyzed the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of common buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum and tartary buckwheat, F. tataricum. The diversity of the nucleotides and haplotypes, Tajima’s D, and Fu’s Fs was analyzed and compared among the varieties of common buckwheat and tartary buckwheat. The diversity of nucleotides and haplotypes indicated that the buckwheat populations had undergone rapid population expansion but D and Fs did not support their expansion statistically. The phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequences did not clearly establish the phylogenetic relationships between the varieties of common buckwheat. The In/Del sequence of ITS-1 region could, therefore, be used as a DNA marker to distinguish raw or manufactured products derived from common buckwheat and tartary buckwheat.

Background : Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a secondary air pollutant that negatively affects numerous agricultural crop and forest. The tropospheric ozone is constantly increasing due to fossil fuel air pollutants. Here, we study the response of tartary buckwheat to ozone gas includes physiological and biochemical changes such as change in gene expression and metabolism. Methods and Results : Tartary buckwheat plants have green stems and leaves under normal conditions, while the plants exposed to the ozone have red stems and reddish green leaves. The expression of most flavonoid biosynthetic genes were significantly upregulated in ozone-treated buckwheat plants, exceting the expression of FtF3’H2. The contents of two anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside, were significantly increased by ozone treatment. From the metabolic profiling based on the GC-TOF-MS analysis, we identified the effect of ozone on thirty-five metabolites, including sugars, amino acids, and organic acids. Most of the metabolites result in significantly decreased or nearly remain unchanged in the ozone-treated plants compared with untreated plants, excepting alanine, proline, tryptophan, sucrose, and raffinose. To identify the effect of ozone on the leaf, we analyzed the epidermal cells on the leaf surface by scanning electron microscopy. Interestingly, amount of epidermal cells were partially destructed in ozone-treated plants. Conclusion : By analyzing both primary and secondary metabolites of tartary buchwheat without or with ozone, we identified that ozone affects the modulation of the metabolites as well as gene expression in tartary buchwheat.

sources of flavonoid, including quercetin, rutin and catechin. The flavonoid content of Tartary buckwheat is 9 - 300 times higher than the common buckwheat. The objective of this study was to compare phenolic compound content and antioxidant activity of tatary buckwheat and common buckwheat in different plant parts. Methods and Results : Total polyphenol, flavonoid contents and DPPH free radical scavenging activity was measured in seed, stem and leaf of tatary buckwheat followed by cultivation period. Total polyphenol content was higher in tatary buckwheat compared to common buckwheat. Total polyphenol contents was 347.33 ㎍/㎖ in tatary buckwheat seed extract and 57.24 ㎍/㎖ in common buckwheat stem (2 month). Total flavonoid content was also higher in tatary buckwheat than common buckwheat. Total flavonoid contents of tatary buckwheat seed extract was 45.68 ㎍/㎖, where as common buckwheat seed content 21.29 ㎍/㎖. DPPH free radical scavenging activity was higher in tatary buckwheat than common buckwheat. DPPH free radical scavenging activity was 85.76% in tatary buckwheat leaf (2 month) and 54.44% was in common buckwheat stem (2 month). Conclusion : This study indicates that polyphenol contents of tatary buckwheat extract depend on their part and the chronology is the seed> leaf > stem. Total polyphenol and flavonoid contents of leaf and stem is in inverse proportion to cultivation period. But, DPPH free radical scavenging activity make no difference according to plant cultivation age.

Background : Plants live in restricted spaces that are constantly exposed to various environmental stresses. Under these stressful conditions, plants lead to biosynthesize specialized metabolites to adapt to environmental stresses. Here we investigate the effects of cold on the metabolome of tartaty buckwheat, focusing the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Methods and Results : From the metabolic profiling based on the GC-TOF-MS analysis, we identified the effect of cold on forty-four metabolites, including sugars, amino acids, and organic acids. Most of sugars and sugar derivatives remain nearly unchanged or slightly decreased in the plants grown at 25 ºC, whereas sugar and sugar derivative contents of cold-treated plants significantly increased, excepting galactose. Some of amino acid and amino acid derivatives contents decrease in cold-treated plants, whereas organic acid derived from tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle were increased the cold-treated plants compared with the plants grown at 25 ºC. Particularly, the contents of two anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside, were significantly increased by cold treatment. Proanthocyanidins such as epicatechin and catechin were also significantly affected by cold. The expression of most flavonoid biosynthetic genes were significantly upregulated in cold-treated buckwheat seedling. Among the flavonoid biosynthetic genes, the expression of FtANS was notably upregulated in response to cold. Conclusion : By analyzing both primary metabolites and secondary metabolites of tartary buchwheat without or with cold, we showed that cold play a critical role in the modulation of the primary metabolites and flavonoid synthesis pathway in tartary buchwheat. Particularly, anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin biosynthetic pathways are strongly up-regulated in response to cold.

Breeding and cultivation techniques are being treated very severely regarding ecological and physiological development in buckwheat. This study was conducted to focus on the diversity occurring in the cultivated and tartary buckwheat and provide an overview of the characteristics and genetic resources activities. Morphological results showed that the height of common buckwheat ranges from 82-90cm, common buckwheat induced by 200Gy ranges from 52-75cm, common buckwheat induced by 300Gy ranges from 43-56cm, common buckwheat induced by 400Gy ranges from 33-60cm whereas the tartary buckwheat hight ranges from 65-87cm, and while it exposed to various radiation (200Gy, 300Gy and 400Gy), the obtained height ranges from 73-92cm, 55-80cm and 60-75cm respectively. However, the stems from the both cultivar are hollow and that’s why, the plant is very prone to lodging. The leaf color of common buckwheat was green, 200Gray, 300Gy 400Gy common buckwheat light green and green, whereas the tartary buckwheat green and bottle-green, 200Gray 300Gy 400Gy tatary buckwheat bottle-green, common buckwheat (control, 200Gy, 300Gy, 400Gy) stem color is light green and pink, flower color is white, tartary buckwheat (control, 200Gy, 300Gy, 400Gy) flower color is light green. The stem color from tartary buckwheat showed (200Gy, 300Gy, 400Gy) light green and light red color. The results revealed that the two buckwheat cultivars showed diversified characteristics.

Common buckwheat (F. esculentum) and tartaryan buckwheat, also called as bitter buckwheat (F. tartarycum) grain and leaves (buds) are used in various dietary preparations and as leafy vegetable. The cultivated area of buckwheat is increased based on its nutritional value. Particularly bitter buckwheat is a rich source of rutin compared to common buckwheat which helps in reducing intra-vascular cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and is also reported to have a crucial role in pharmaceutical research. With this functional characteristics of bitter buckwheat, the cultivation is now highly increased. But a few genetic and genomic research of tartari buckwheat are published until now. Here we described the complete full chloroplast genome sequence with NGS. Tartary buckwheat complete chloroplast genome is composed of a total sequence length of 159,272 bp which is 327 bp lesser than common buckwheat genome of 159,599 bp. Large single copy region (LSC) is comprised of 84,398 bp in tartary and 84,888 bp in common buckwheat whereas small single copy region (SSC) is 13,292 bp and 13,343 bp and the size of inverted repeat region (IR) is 61,532 bp and 61,368 bp in tartary and common buckwheat respectively. Total RNA bases were 11942 and 11950 and overall GC-content in tartary and common buckwheat is almost similar which is 37.9% and 38% with a GC skew of -0.016 and 0.02 respectively. Total repeat bases accounted for 1,056 bp and 804 bp with an average repeat length of 48 bp and 45 bp and the length of an average intergenic distance was 495 bp and 502 bp in tartary and common buckwheat respectively. F. tarataticum cp genome has a total of 104 genes including 82 protein coding genes, 29 transfer RNA genes and 4 ribosomal RNA genes. Protein coding genes include photosynthesis related genes majorly in addition to transcription and translation related genes. LSC region has 62 protein coding genes and 22 tRNA genes whereas SSC region contains 11 protein coding genes and one tRNA gene. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of protein coding genes in LSC, SSC and inverted repeat regions in F.tartaricum and F.esculentum are highly similar with a total average identity of 98.8 and 98.3% respectively.

Bitter buckwheat, also called tartari buckwheat (F. tartaricum), contains large amount of rutin and it has antioxidant activity compared to common buckwheat. But after harvesting and processing, the discrimination of two species through visual inspection was almost impossible. Therefore we developed InDel markers to identify common and tartari buckwheat content based on the chloroplast genome sequence. We conducted complete full chloroplast genome sequence of tartari buckwheat and compared with common buckwheat chloroplast genome sequence (NC010776). Based on the mVISTA alignment, we found eight big InDel (above 50bp) regions. Among the InDel, 6 regions are intergenic region and two are genic region in ycf1. We designed InDel specific primers and applied to PCR with buckwheat genomic DNA to check the discrimination of two species. These InDel specific primers also applied to buckwheat germplasm, 75 tartari and 21 common buckwheat. Among the primers, 5 markers could be successfully amplified in all germplasm species specific amplicon. And we can detect 10pg/ul of DNA and processed food such as tea and noodle. These results could improve the QC (Quality control) of tartari buckwheat food

본 연구는 쓴메밀 추출물(FTE)의 미백 효과를 검증하기 위해 DPPH 라디칼 소거능, ABTS 라디칼 소거능, 타이로시나아제 활성 저해 효과 및 세포내 멜라닌 합성 억제 효과를 측정하였고, 단메밀 추출물(FEE)과 그 효능 비교를 하였다. 그 결과로 쓴메밀 추출물은 단메밀 추출물보다 항산화 효과 및 타이로시나아제 활성 저해, 세포내 멜라닌 합성 억제 효과가 높음을 확인하였다. 또한 인체 적용 실험에서 자외선 조사에 의한 인공 색소침착을 유발한 후, 쓴메밀 추출물을 함유한 크림을 제조하여 도포하였고, 8주 경과 후 피부 밝기를 측정한 결과 통계적으로 유의한 수준의 피부 미백 효과를 나타내었다. 이러한 결과들로 쓴메밀 추출물은 미백 개선을 위한 화장품 소재로 이용 가능성이 높을 것으로 기대된다.

본 연구에서는 메밀 속성장의 저장, 유통 과정 중 품질특성을 조사하고자 30일간 발효, 숙성 시킨 메밀 속성장을 다양한 용기(항아리, 플라스틱, 유리)에 담아 5℃, 15℃, 25℃에 저장시킨 후 기간에 따른 pH, 산도, 아미노태 질소,총 균수, 색도의 변화를 관찰하였다. 그 결과 항아리(15℃,25℃)에 저장되었던 실험군을 제외한 나머지 실험군은 저장기간 동안 초기의 pH 4.5를 유지하는 경향을 보였으며 항아리(15℃, 25℃)시료는 pH가 시간이 지남에 따라 증가하여 저장 98일에는 각각 pH 5.6, pH 7.4로 증가 하였다. 또한 항아리(15℃, 25℃)에 저장되었던 실험군의 산도는 저장기간에 따란 점차 증가하는 경향을 보였는데 항아리(15℃)시료는 저장 98일(1.85%), 항아리(25℃) 시료는 저장 91일(0.71%)에 낮은 산도를 나타내었다. 플라스틱(25℃) 실험군의 아미노태 질소 함량은 저장 98일에 0.751%이었으며, 항아리(25℃)에 저장된 실험군은 0.92%로 다른 실험군에 비하여 그 함량이 크게 증가하였다. 또한 저장기간 동안 샘플의 총균수는 모든 실험군에서 전체적으로 뚜렷한 증가나 감소의 경향을 보이지는 않았다. 색도의 경우, 항아리(25℃)에 저장된 시료의 경우, L, a, b의 모든 값에서 가장 큰 변화를 보였으며 저장 온도가 높을 수록 L 값이 낮아지는 현상을 확인할 수 있었다. 따라서, 본 연구결과 메밀 속성장의 저장, 유통과정에서 25℃보다 5~15℃를 유지하는 것이 품질 변화를 줄일 수 있는 것으로 확인 되었으며, 항아리와 플라스틱에 비하여 유리병에 보관하는 것이 제품을 보존하는데 있어 탁월한 것으로 확인되었다. 이러한 실험 결과는 메밀 속성장의 저장성 및 유통기한 설정에 기초자료로 제시하고자 한다.

Buckwheat sprout is used as vegetable, and also flour for making noodles, and so on. Currently, information about tissue culture in buckwheat is limited and restricted to micro-propagation. We carried out somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration using hypocotyl segments as explant of the cultivated buckwheat species, Fagopyrum esculentum which differs from existing studies in the growth regulator combinations used. Maximum callus regeneration was induced on MS medium containing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) 2.0 mg · L-1, benzyladenine (BA) 1.0 mg · L-1 and 3% sucrose. Friable callus was transferred to solidified MS media containing BA (1.0 mg · L-1) with various concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid for the induction of embryogenesis. The optimum concentrations of growth regulators (for regeneration of plantlet) were indole-3-acetic acid (2.0 mg · L-1), Kinetin (1.0 mg · L-1), BA (1.0 mg · L-1). Only 2,4-D did not show any significant effect on callus induction or embryogenesis. Regeneration of embryonic callus varied from 5% to 20%. Whole plants were obtained at high frequencies when the embryogenic calli with somatic embryos and organized shoot primordia were transferred to MS media with 3% sucrose. The main objective of this research was to develop an efficient protocol for plant regeneration for common buckwheat, and to apply in future for genetic transformation.