Composition And Functional Properties Of Common Buckwheat (Fagopyrum Esculentum Moench) Flour And Starch

Buckwheat, a pseudo cereal, is an alternative crop belonging to the family Polygonaceae. Buckwheat is generally grouped with cereals due to similarity in cultivation and utilization though it is not cereal grain. Two types of buckwheat are used around the world: common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) and tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) depending on the production zone. Generally, common buckwheat is grown more in Asian buckwheat growing countries, such as Japan, Korea, and the central and northern parts of China and the same is true in Europe, USA, Canada, Brazil, South Africa and Australia. In India, both types of buckwheat are grown (Li and Zhang, 2001; Bonafaccia et al., 2003). The cultivation of buckwheat had declined for many years, but in recent times there has been a reappearance of interest in its cultivation because high nutritional value of buckwheat grain due to high levels of protein, starch, dietary fibre, some minerals, vitamins, flavonoids and other bioactive components (Krkoskova and Mrazova, 2005). Buckwheat is a basic food item in porridges and soups, while it is marketed primarily in pancake mixes, which may contain buckwheat flour mixed with wheat, maize, rice or oat flour together with a leavening agent in North America (Joshi and Rana, 1995). Starch is the major component of buckwheat endosperm, which plays a significant role in appearance, structure and quality of food products. Buckwheat seeds mainly contain starch ranging from 59% – 69% which is 15-25% amylose, rest is apmylopectine and 7-37% of resistant starch (Skrabanja et al., 2004). Buckwheat starch granules are spherical, oval and polygonal in shape with large flat areas due to compact packing in the endosperm (Christa and Soral-Śmietana, 2008). Buckwheat is generally utilized as food in the form of flour; Abstract: Common buckwheat is a pseudo-cereal used in food industry as a functional ingredient in the form of flour and starch. The aim of this study was to isolate the starch from buckwheat grain and assess the physicochemical (Composition, hunter color, and paste clarity) and functional properties (water and oil absorption capacities, swelling power and solubility, least gelation concentration and bulk density) of flour and starch fraction. Process of isolation of starch removed all other components such as protein, fibre and fat which resulted in production of good quality of starch isolate with high proportion of starch and low level of other components except amylose. Chemical composition of flour showed higher nutritional value of buckwheat flour than starch. Color of starch had higher luminosity that increases scope of its utilization as a food ingredient. Paste clarity and gelation capacity of starch were better than flour indicating it a better thickening agent. Swelling power of starch was higher than flour indicating its suitability for application in processed foods. Solubility, oil absorption and water absorption capacities of flour and starch representing their technologically important properties meeting the demand of consumer preference in food industry.