Nutritional composition and flavonoids content of flour from different buckwheat cultivars

Summary Thirty nine buckwheat cultivars were collected from China, of which twenty one were tartary buckwheat and others were common buckwheat. Flour samples from these cultivars were analysed for colour properties, nutritional composition and flavonoid content. Buckwheat cultivars exhibited high variations for each of these parameters. The flour of common buckwheat showed a higher whiteness index than that of tartary buckwheat and contained very low levels of flavonoids. On average, the tartary buckwheat flour contained a higher level of ash (2.38%) and lower levels of total starch (70.22%), amylose (22.32%), resistant starch (17.66%) than the common buckwheat flour (2.17%, 73.69%, 23.01%, 18.69% respectively) ( P < 0.05) whereas the contents of proteins, fats and crude fibres of the tartary buckwheat flour were similar to those of common buckwheat flour. The Mei‐Hua‐Shan tartary buckwheat flour contained the highest level of total flavonoids and quercetin (22.74 mg g −1 and 2.38 mg g −1 , respectively).