About Fagopyrum tataricum (L.) Gaertn.
Fagopyrum tataricum (L.) Gaertn., commonly called Tartary buckwheat, green buckwheat, ku qiao, Tatar buckwheat, or bitter buckwheat, is a domesticated food plant belonging to the genus Fagopyrum in the family Polygonaceae. Along with common buckwheat, another species in the same genus, it is often categorized as a cereal, but buckwheats are not closely related to true cereals. Compared to common buckwheat, Tartary buckwheat is more bitter and contains more rutin. It also has other bioactive components including flavonoids, phenolic acids, 2-hydroxybenzylamine, and quercitrin.
Known as "bitter buckwheat" (苦荞麦, pinyin: kǔqiáomài) in Chinese and dattan-soba (韃靼蕎麦/ダッタンソバ, meaning "Tartary buckwheat") in Japan, this plant was domesticated as a crop in East Asia, and is also cultivated in Europe and North America. It is an unfamiliar food in Western regions, but is commonly used today in the Himalayan region, as well as in Southwest Chinese regions such as Sichuan province. Tartary buckwheat is often roasted to prepare buckwheat tea, and can also be distilled to produce alcohol. Though it is not a traditional food in Japan, it experienced a brief period of popularity as a health fad there in the late 1990s due to its high rutin content. While the plant is cultivated across many parts of the world, it is considered a weed when it grows among other crops. Less bitter varieties of Tartary buckwheat are now available commercially.
