Effect of γ-radiation on antioxidants, minerals and active ingredients of buckwheat species collected from different states of India.

Buckwheat, a traditional pseudo-cereal, known for its high nutritional value, thrives well in hilly terrains. High doses of γ-radiation may lead to mutation. Thus, change the nutritional quality. Present study was conducted to observe the impact of high doses of γ-radiation on buckwheat seeds. Seeds of common and tartary buckwheat were radiated with 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, 12.5 & 15.0 kGy doses of γ-radiation. Phytoconstituents variability was estimated using GC-MS, AAS and standard spectrophotometric methods. Buckwheat germplasm of Shimla found nutritionally superior as Chamoli. Total phenol, total flavonoid, β-carotene, calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium were increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) by increasing doses of γ-radiations up to 15.0 kGy. γ-radiation up to 15 kGy dose increased antioxidants and minerals in both the buckwheat spp. Thus, it can be concluded that nutritional and antioxidant components may be enhanced in common and tartary spp. by γ-radiation up to 15.0 kGy, whereas, 5 kGy dose of γ-radiation is the best for metabolite enhancement of seeds collected from Shimla. However, field performance of subsequent seed progenies of 15 kGy γ-irradiated seeds and their food safety assessments are the thrust area of future research.