Fagopyrum spp. — Edible Plant Database

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Seed

Leaves - raw or cooked. Boiled or steamed and used like spinach. Of excellent quality according to one report, but we have been less than impressed by the flavour, which has a distinct bitterness especially when eaten raw. The leaves are rich in rutin (see below for details of its uses) and so they do make a healthy addition to the diet. Seed - it can be sprouted and eaten raw, or cooked and used as a cereal. Dried and ground into a powder, it can serve as a thickening agent in soups etc. The seed is rich in vitamin B6. Unfortunately, it is not freely produced in Britain. Carbon Farming Solutions - Staple Crop: balanced carb (The term staple crop typically refers to a food that is eaten routinely and accounts for a dominant part of people's diets in a particular region of the world).

Where to Find It

Eurasia.

Coming Soon

How to Identify

Fagopyrum spp. is a PERENNIAL growing to 1 m (3ft 3in) by 1 m (3ft 3in) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 5. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in heavy clay and nutritionally poor soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

How to Grow

Hypothetical Crop Management: Standard Staple Crop: Balanced carb. Climate: boreal to cold temperate. Humidity: arid to semi-arid. Carbon Farming Solutions - Cultivation: hypothetical - F. esculentum could be crossed with F. cymosum. Management: standard (Describes the non-destructive management systems that are used in cultivation).

Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer. Division is very easy at almost any time in the growing season, though it is best avoided in early spring because the young growth can be damaged by late frosts. The divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions.

Medicinal Uses

The whole plant is anodyne, anthelmintic, antiphlogistic, carminative, depurative and febrifuge. It stimulates blood circulation. A decoction is used in the treatment of traumatic injuries, lumbago, menstrual irregularities, purulent infections, snake and insect bites. A decoction of the roots is used in the treatment of insect bites, dysmenorrhoea, inflammation, lumbago, snakebite and traumatic injuries. The leaves are rich in rutin which is a capillary tonic, antioedemic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and hypotensive. Rutin also inhibits carcinogenesis and protects against radiation.