The use of Fagopyrum tataricum gaertn. whole flour to confer preventive contents of rutin to some traditional tuscany biscuits

To meet the growing interest for new foods that may be regarded as functional aliments, of particular interest appears the utilization of the grain of Fagopyrum tataricum. The high content of rutin available in the grain and whole flour of this species, in fact, offers the opportunity to introduce in the food recipes effective amounts of this bioactive compound. Rutin is credited with a growing multiplicity of health beneficial properties that can be reasonablysecured through the preventive nutrition approach. In this respect, the daily dose of rutin suggested by most dietary supplement preparations is around 50 mg/day. The use of F. tataricum whole flour, where the rutin content usually ranges between 1000 up to 2000 mg/100 g dry weight, allows to reach such an amount with a low percentage introduction of this ingredient in the original recipe. Higher contents of rutin are found in the herb of cultivated species of buckwheat (F. tataricum and F. esculentum). However, the handling of this material may not be as simple as that of the grain made into whole flour. Preliminary results would indicate that an intake of 50 mg of rutin with a single meal (breakfast in this case) can be feasible by adding tartary buckwheat whole flour to some traditional Tuscany biscuits without impairing texture, taste and acceptability.In spite of the presence of rutin degrading enzymes, known to be present in tartary buckwheat grain, it would appear that just a negligible degradation of rutin to quercetin occurs during the phase of dough preparation and backing process so that most of the rutin present in the whole flour can be recovered in the biscuits.