Evaluation of flavonoid contents and antioxidant capacity of the aerial parts of common and tartary buckwheat plants.

Danuta Zielińska,Marcin Turemko,Jacek Kwiatkowski,Henryk Zieliński

doi:10.3390/molecules17089668

Abstract

The analysis of major and minor flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity of stems, leaves, flowers, unripe seeds and ripe seeds of common and tartary buckwheat plants collected during different growth periods was addressed in this study. The highest rutin contents were observed in flowers and leaves collected from common and tartary buckwheat at early flowering as well as flowering and seed formation states. A low quercetin contents were found in all studied aerial part of buckwheat plants. Quercitrin (quercetin-3-rhamnoside) was only found in flowers collected at different growth periods while flavone C-glucosides were accumulated preferentially only in unripe seeds collected from common buckwheat at an early flowering state. The rank of antioxidant capacity provided for aerial parts of common and tartary buckwheat at early flowering state was as follows: flowers > leaves > stems. The highest contribution of rutin to the antioxidant capacity of the aerial parts of common and tartary buckwheat was found for stems followed by leaves, flowers and unripe seeds. The results demonstrate that flowers from common and tartary buckwheat collected at early flowering as well as flowering and seed formation states have the future potential to be a useful food ingredient.

Highlights

Buckwheat, frequently classified as a pseudocereal, is one of the crops cultivated by various ethnic groups in developed and developing countries and an integral part of their diet and culture [1]
The results showed about 50% contribution of rutin to the antioxidant capacity of flowers from common and tartary buckwheat, which were shown in this study as the richest source of rutin followed by quercetin and quercitrin
Low quercetin contents within the range of 0.01–0.25% Dry Weight (DW) were found in all studied aerial parts of buckwheat plants

Summary

Introduction

Frequently classified as a pseudocereal, is one of the crops cultivated by various ethnic groups in developed and developing countries and an integral part of their diet and culture [1]. Many nutraceutical compounds found in tartary buckwheat are suggested to have health benefits [3]. Buckwheat is considered to be a major dietary source of rutin (quercetin 3-rutinoside) as well as a minor source of other flavonoids. The antioxidant activity of rutin, quercetin and flavone C-glucosides was determined by different chemical assays and has been recently reported [4,5]. Antioxidative [6], antihypertensive [7] and anti-inflammatory activities [6] of buckwheat flavonoids were demonstrated. Human studies of flavonoids have suggested effects that can in part be attributed to their antioxidant action [8]

Objectives

Results

Conclusion