Cereal Chem 65:122-126   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Lipid Content and Fatty Acid Composition of Buckwheat Seed.

G. Mazza. Copyright 1988 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Dehulled seed of the three most important North American cultivars of buckwheat, Mancan, Tokyo, and Manor, were analyzed for content of total, free, neutral, glyco-, and phospholipids, and each class of lipid was analyzed for fatty acid composition. The samples contained from 2.6 +/- 0.2 to 3.2 +/- 0.1% total lipids of which 81-85% were neutral lipids, 8-11% phospholipids, and 3-5% glycolipids. Free lipids, extracted in petroleum ether, ranged from 2.1 +/- 0.1 to 2.6 +/- 0.1%. The major fatty acids of all cultivars and of all classes of lipids were palmitic (16:0), oleic (18:1), and linoleic (18:2) acid. Average values of these three fatty acids in the total lipids of all buckwheat samples examined were 14.0 +/- 0.8, 36.3 +/- 1.9 and 37.0 +/- 1.9%, respectively. The corresponding values for the free lipids were 14.8 +/- 1.5, 36.5 +/- 2.0, and 35.5 +/- 1.9% and those for phospholipids were 9.1 +/- 0.8, 44.3 +/- 4.4, and 41.7 +/- 2.8%, respectively. Total lipid content showed significant positive correlation with free, neutral, and glycolipid contents, and there was a highly significant negative correlation between oleic and linoleic acid contents of all lipid classes. There was, however, no statistical difference between new and old buckwheat in the content of free, neutral, glyco-, and phospholipids and in the fatty acid composition of total and free lipids.