Buck-Wheat : Chemical Constituents and Uses

English: Fagopyrum esculentum, Polygonaceae, Buckwheat, habitus; Botanical Garden KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany. The plant is used in homeopathy as remedy: Fagopyrum (Fago.) Deutsch: Fagopyrum esculentum, Polygonaceae, Echter Buchweizen, Gemeiner Buchweizen, Habitus; Botanischer Garten KIT, Karlsruhe, Deutschland. Die Pflanze wird in der Homöopathie als Arzneimittel verwendet: Fagopyrum (Fago.) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Morphology and Distribution of Buck-Wheat:

Buck-wheat is the powder of the dried food grains of Fagopyrum esculentum, belonging to the family Polygonaceae.

The commercial cultivation of buck-wheat is carried out in USA, Russia and Japan as a food crop. The grains are brown in colour and irregular shape. They are in size as of the soya beans. The plant contains heart shaped leaves and slender, hollow stems. They grow to a height of 1 meter and bears white coloured flowers.

Chemical constituents of buck-wheat:

The main constituents of the buck-wheat are protein and fat.

Rutin is Rhamnoglucoside of Quercetin. It is a microcrystalline greenish yellow powder without any taste. Rutin is soluble in methyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, pyridine and solutions of alkali hydroxides.

Uses of Buck-Wheat:

• Buck-Wheat is useful in the treatment of capillary bleeding.
• Buck-Wheat is used in increased capillary fragility.
• Buck-Wheat is useful in the treatment of retinal haemorrhages.

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