Abstract
Buckwheat is recognized as an important traditional crop and supports local economies in several regions around the world. Buckwheat is used, for example, as a cereal grain, noodle and bread. In addition, buckwheat is also used as a sprout or a young seedling. For these foods, sprouting is an important characteristic that affects food quality. For foods made from buckwheat flour, pre-harvest sprouting may decrease yield, which also leads to the deterioration of noodle quality. Breeding buckwheat that is resistant to pre-harvest sprouting is therefore required. Germination and subsequent growth are also important characteristics of the quality of sprouts. Although buckwheat sprouts are the focus because they contain many functional compounds, such as rutin, several problems have been noted, such as thin hypocotyls and husks remaining on sprouts. To date, several new varieties have been developed to resolve these quality issues. In this review, we summarize and introduce research on the breeding of buckwheat related to quality, sprouting and subsequent sprout growth.
Highlights
Buckwheat is an important cereal in Japan, China, Russia, Europe and elsewhere [1,2]
We summarize some important points in terms of buckwheat breeding and introduce the current research and varieties on buckwheat quality for sprouting and discuss future prospects
These findings indicate that cultivar differences in buckwheat pre-harvest sprouting are explained mainly by seed dormancy
Summary
Buckwheat is an important cereal in Japan, China, Russia, Europe and elsewhere [1,2]. In terms of grain use, pre-harvest sprouting is one of the most important characteristics, especially in spring-sown buckwheat, in Japan. Pre-harvest sprouting sometimes occurs when maturing seeds on plants encounter substantial rain and high temperatures, which leads to a decrease in yield and deterioration in quality. Japanese buckwheat breeders have developed varieties with pre-harvest sprouting resistance [3]. Many aspects of seed dormancy and germination have been reviewed [5,6]. Understanding the mechanism of germination and dormancy is important for breeding new varieties of buckwheat with improved sprouting-related characteristics. We summarize some important points in terms of buckwheat breeding and introduce the current research and varieties on buckwheat quality for sprouting and discuss future prospects
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