A Review on Buckwheat and Its Hypoglycemic Bioactive Components in Food Systems

Type 2 diabetes has become a serious global health problem, and a healthy dietary pattern can help to prevent and treat it early. Higher consumption of whole grains, such as cereals and pseudocereals, is a strategy to mitigate this global epidemic. Buckwheat is a common pseudocereal that is rich in protein, dietary fiber, slowly digestible starch, polyphenols and phytochemical compounds. These components with biological functions have led to increasing attention on the health benefits of buckwheat, specifically its hypoglycemic property. However, buckwheat remains an under-utilized crop. This review aims to provide an overview of the extraction process, the types of bioactive components present in buckwheat, and potential mechanisms of action that could lead to a blood glucose-lowering effect in the human body. The effect of thermal treatments on the functional properties and in vitro digestibility of some components are also discussed. Further, the application of buckwheat in foods and diets in both in vitro and in vivo studies on glycemia is also mentioned. The hypoglycemic effect of buckwheat consumption and the potential for the utilization of buckwheat in functional food products described herein aim to help increase the awareness of its benefits and demand.