FAGOPYRUM ESCULENTUM. 



25 



FAGOPYRUM ESCULENTUM, Moench 



\Yide Plate LXXXIII.] 



Common or sweet buckwheat; ogal, ogla, kotu, phaphra (N.-W. Himalaya). 



Natural order Polygonacece. An erect glabrous annual with triangular, cordate, acute leaves. 

 Flowers many, pink or white, in axillary and terminal cymes. Nut 3-cornered with acute 

 angles, light brown, polished. 



According to DeCandolle this plant has been found wild in Manchuria, on the 

 banks of the river Amur, in Dahuria, and near Lake Baikal. 



Extensively cultivated on the hills during the rainy season between 4,000 and 

 10,000 feet. It is sown in July and harvested in October. At the higher elevations 

 the flowers are usually white, like those of F. tataricum. The name ogal is generally 

 applied to a smaller kind with deep pink flowers, growing between 4,000 and 6,000 

 feet ; and its grain is considered preferable. The grain ground into meal constitutes 

 a staple food in many parts of Kumaun and Garhwal. 



Atkinson says that the grain is exported to the plains under the name kotu, and is 

 eaten by the Hindus during their fasts. It is said to be heating but palatable, and is 

 sold by the pansdri or druggists, and not by the general grain dealers. Stewart mentions 

 that the leaves are used in the Punjab as a pot-herb. 



The analysis of buckwheat given in Professor Church's " Food Grains of India," 

 was made from a sample obtained in Europe, there being no authentic sample of Indian- 

 grown buckwheat available at the time. In the Kew Bulletin for January 1893, p. 3, 

 he gives the results of an analysis of some ordinary Indian buckwheat received from 

 India last year : — 



" 100 of the fruits weighed 30 grains. The husk amounted to lb per cent, by weight." 



Composition of Buckwheat (husked). 



Water, ... ... ... ... ... ... 13*3 per cent. 



Albuminoids, ... ... ... ... ... 14*2 ,, 



Starch, ... ... ... ... ... ... 66'6 „ 



Oil, ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 „ 



Fibre, ... ... ... ... ... ... 1-9 „ 



Ash, ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 „ 



" The nutrient ratio is here 1 : 5, but when the albuminoids were determined by the phenol 



* References r— El. Br. Ind., V„ 55 ; Watt, Diet Econora. Prod., III., 310 ; Royle, 111. Him. Bot.. 317 ; Atkinson, 

 Him. Dist., I., 698 ; Church, Food Grains of India, 114 ; DC, L'Orig. PI. Cult., 279. F. emarginatum, Meis3n.; Stewart, 

 Punj. PI., 184 ; Polygonum Fag»pyrum, Linn ; Roxb., Fl. Ind. (Clarke's. Ed ). 335. 



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