Flavonoids and fagopyrins in buckwheat leaves and flowers during the growing season and their relationship with weather conditions

This study quantified how the concentrations of antioxidant flavonoids (particularly rutin and quercitrin), antioxidant activities, and phototoxic fagopyrin concentrations in buckwheat leaves and flowers varied during the growing season. In addition, the impact of meteorological variables (high and low temperature, sunshine, and precipitation) on these variations was investigated using pairwise Pearson correlation coefficients and corresponding false discovery rate (FDR)-adjusted p-values. The rutin concentration was 1.5-times higher, the antioxidant activity measured by the reducing power (RP) method was 5.1-times higher, and the fagopyrin concentration was 12.7-times higher in buckwheat flowers than in leaves during the peak flowering period. After peak flowering, the concentrations of phenolic compounds (but not fagopyrins) and antioxidant activities in the flowers sharply decreased. During 4-day dry periods, the RP antioxidant activity in buckwheat flowers was significantly positively correlated with both the average maximum temperature and the average minimum temperature. Weather conditions had no effect on fagopyrin accumulation in the flowers, but during dry periods there was a significant positive correlation between the average low temperature and fagopyrin concentration in the leaves. Although the observed correlations do not imply causation, they could be relevant for cultivation strategies to maximize the antioxidant capacity of harvested plant parts.