Buckwheat Amylase and Its Nutritional Importance

Common buckwheat,the crop plant is Fagopyrum esculentum. It is called a pseudocereal to emphasize that it is not related to wheat. In recent years buckwheat has regained interest as an alternative crop for organic cultivation and as a health food because of its high nutritious value. Buckwheat has considerable health benefits, such as protein of high biological value due to the relative high amino acid scores and high levels of lysine and tryptophan, when compared to cereals. It contains several antioxidants such as rutin, which has a hypotensive effect and is claimed to strengthen capillary blood vessels and suppresses the internal bleeding. In addition, buckwheat does not contain glutenin like proteins, which are toxic for people suffering from coeliac disease. The amylases present in the seed of buckwheat play a very important role in the germination of seed as these helps in the utilization of starch present in the endosperm of buckwheat seed. The mobilization of starch is likely to provide some leads to better understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of seed germination and excised for the study of activity of alpha amylase & beta amylase, maltose in germinating seeds.