**4. Stability of bioactive components in buckwheat and its products during storage**

A detailed review of the literature showed that the data on the stability of the most important bioactive components in all types of buckwheat products (bakery and others) during storage is quite limited. Unlike stability during processing, which can still be stated to have been the subject of a significant number of studies in recent years, and that the number of studies is constantly increasing, stability during storage is still almost unexplored. One of the studies that could be related to a certain extent to the mentioned topic is the one conducted by the authors Cho and Lee [121].

Namely, these authors established experimental extraction procedures for preparing rutin-enriched material (REM) from buckwheat milling fractions. Then the REM was used for the fortification of wheat instant fried noodles with rutin. After frying, the noodle samples were stored for 14 days at 60°C and its peroxide value was measured every other day in order to examine the effect of REM on the oxidative stability of the noodles. The monitoring showed that the peroxide number of noodle samples tended to increase with increasing storage time. However, it was noted that the rate of increase in peroxide value was markedly lower in noodle samples with incorporated REM compared to the control sample which did not contain REM. This indicates that the oxidizing improvement of instant fried noodles in storage was reduced using REM. These results can be expected from the high level of rutin in REM, since rutin has strong antioxidant activity [32].

Tabaković et al. [136] found that the most suitable way to store buckwheat seeds for a long period is paper material in order to retain their physiological and morphological properties to the greatest extent.

#### **5. Conclusion**

Buckwheat, a pseudocereal belonging to the *Polygonaceae* family, is used as an important raw material for the development of functional foods due to its functionality and content of components such as proteins, flavonoids, phytosterols, phagopyritols, phenolic acids, vitamins, and others. Scientific research confirms many biological and health properties of buckwheat: hypocholesterolemic, hypoglycaemic, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activity. The increase in the amount of data focused on the positive nutritional and functional characteristics of buckwheat,

#### *The Importance of Buckwheat as a Pseudocereal: Content and Stability of Its Main Bioactive… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102570*

which affect the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, reduction of plasma and liver cholesterol, etc., results in an increase in the number of newly created buckwheat-based food products and their increased use in the population's diet. In the category of bakery products, the following ones stand out: buckwheat-enhanced bread, wheat bread enhanced with fermented buckwheat sourdough, buckwheat biscuits and snacks, and many others. However, in order for these products to be of high nutritional quality, it is important to understand the effect of processing on bioactive components. And it is also important to know the effect of storage on bioactive components.

When it comes to processing, there are several processes associated with buckwheat, the first and inevitable one being the milling process. Milling is the processing (conversion) of buckwheat grains into flour, the primary raw material for the production of bakery products. During the processing of buckwheat grains into white flour, the husk and outer layers are separated, which removes the ratio of fibers, minerals, and polyphenolic components. Then there is the process of heat treatment, and baking, which belongs to the category of heat treatment, is also inevitable during the production of bakery products. In general, when it comes to the effects of heat treatment on bioactive components in buckwheat, a considerable amount of research has been conducted so far. However, the results of the conducted studies are contradictory. Although in most cases heat treatment resulted in a decrease in bioactive components, on the other hand, there are studies in which heat treatment did not have a significant effect on bioactive components. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct more studies with an emphasis on optimizing the conditions of heat treatment in order to ultimately obtain buckwheat and buckwheat-based products of appropriate quality for use. Recently, high-pressure treatments and the application of radiation are becoming increasingly important. However, although knowledge about radiation remains limited, there is an increased interest in buying "safe—radiation-enhanced food", especially after obtaining information about the potential benefits and risks.

Although a considerable number of studies have been conducted on the effects of processing, and primarily on the effects of heat treatment, there are still significant gaps in this area. They are primarily related to the fact that most of the conducted studies are aimed at determining the effects of processing on the content of phenolic components, especially flavonoids, due to their recognized role in health benefits. Therefore more research that focuses on the effects of processing on all other bioactive components in buckwheat is needed in the future.

When it comes to the effects of storage, this topic is still almost unexplored. A review of the literature revealed that there is a small number of studies dealing with this topic, and therefore further research is needed to identify the effect of storage on bioactive components of buckwheat products, and ultimately to preserve their quality for as long as possible.

*Pseudocereals*
