title: Evaluation of phenolic antioxidant content in organically and conventionally grown buckwheat herb crop and its regrowth.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Buckwheat herb is known in the pharmaceutical industry as a material rich in phenolics. Buckwheat is also capable of regrowing and producing an additional harvest in the same year. Although buckwheat herb is a popular material, it is not known whether the regrowth has features of the same quality as the first harvest. Therefore, using the herb of 15 varieties of buckwheat cultivated in Lithuania, the present study aimed to examine biometric properties, phenolic content and antioxidant activity as material quality indicators for buckwheat herb and its regrowth under organic and conventional farming conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The highest amount of rutin was indicated in the organically cultivated regrowth of 2015. Buckwheat material accumulated significantly (P < 0.05) lower amounts of other phenolics. A significant correlation between phenolic content and antioxidant activity was observed in the herb and its regrowth in both farming systems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Regrowth was of similar quality to the first harvest in terms of phenolic content and antioxidant activity, although a downward trend in several biometric features was observed: the height of the regrowth plants was up to two-fold smaller and biomass was five- to nine-fold lower compared to that of the first harvest plants. Organic and industrial farming systems were determined to produce plants of similar quality. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eivenių 4, LT-50161 Kaunas, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Vaidotas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Žvikas
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical and Toxicological Chemistry, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eivenių 4, LT-50161 Kaunas, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Vilma
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pukelevičienė
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical and Toxicological Chemistry, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eivenių 4, LT-50161 Kaunas, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Liudas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ivanauskas
authors.affiliation: Voke Branch of Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Žalioji a. 2, Trakų Vokė, LT-02232 Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Romanovskaja
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eivenių 4, LT-50161 Kaunas, Lithuania.|Laboratory of Phytopharmacy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eivenių 4, LT-50161 Kaunas, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Valdas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jakštas
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry*; D019612:Fagopyrum / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development*; D058870:Food, Organic / Q000032:analysis; D008097:Lithuania; D058871:Organic Agriculture; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry*; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D010636:Phenols
keywords: antioxidant activity; buckwheat herb; organic farming; phenolic compounds; regrowth