Buckwheat originated in China, where buckwheat has been cultivated for at least 2,000 years. Buckwheat has been cultivated and consumed in China, Korea and Japan for more than a thousand years, in the form of buackwheat jello and buckwheat noodle (soba). Buckwheat has recently been found to be very effective in reducing high blood pressure and slowing the aging process. Buckwheat is easy to grow, and found almost everywhere along with other crops in Asian countries. Buckwheat was introduced to Europe around 15th century through Siberia.

Buckwheat is uniquely rich in the proteins (12-15%) and essential amino acids, such as lysine (5-7%), that are deficient in major cereal crops, and also abundant in lipids, minerals, vitamins (B1 and B2) and rutin. Rutin (a potent bioflavinoid) is found in buckwheat grains and plants (but not in other grains). Buckwheat has become a highly safe and healthy medicinal plant with efficacies for vascular disorders caused by abnormally fragile or permeable capillaries. Buckwheat flowers are important honey source in Korea and other Asian countries.

Buckwhat groats have had the outer thin husk removed but retain all their nutritional benefits. The process of husk removal reduces their undigestible fibre content