Molecular Dissection of Flavonoid Biosynthesis Machinery in a Nutraceutical Food Crop

Abstract

Flavonoids contributing to nutraceutical qualities of fruits and vegetables possess anti-oxidant,anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, hepato-protective, anti-thrombotic, antiviral, and anticarcinogenic activities. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum spp.) a pseudo-cereal having many medicinal and nutraceutical properties is the only food crop known as the richest source of rutin, an important flavonoid of medicinal value. Out of 20 known Fagopyrum species, Fagopyrum esculentum (Common buckwheat) and F. tataricum (Tartary buckwheat), are the major sources of rutin. The vegetative tissues of both the Fagopyrum species contain almost similar amounts of rutin; however, it increases to 40-50x in mature seeds of F. tataricum compared to F. esculentum. Tartary buckwheat is considered an excellent food material with a potential for preventive nutrition due to the presence of proteins with high biological value (90%) and balanced amino acid composition, relatively higher crude fiber, and Vitamin B compared to common buckwheat. At present, the demand for buckwheat is increasing in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries due to its nutritional and medicinal value based on the favorable composition of the protein complex. In spite of North-Western Himalayas being the reservoir of buckwheat germplasm no efforts have been made to characterize variation for rutin content in F. tataricum accessions. Due to overall nutritional superiority of F. tataricum seeds coupled with the existence of non-adhering hull phenotypes the molecular basis of morphological and biochemical differences in the seeds of Fagopyrum species were deciphered. The, current study reports (I) rutin content profiling and AFLP fingerprinting of F.tataricum accessions from North-Western Himalayas of India (II) Molecular dissection of rutin biosynthesis pathway through comparative genomics and differential transcriptional profiling of Fagopyrum species.