Buckwheat allergy

Buckwheat is unusually high in protein and provides riboflavin, niacin, copper and magnesium.  In Japan, buckwheat has long been used in the form of soba noodles, though these typically are combined with wheat.

Buckwheat seems to be a common food trigger to induce anaphylaxis in both Korea and Japan, where noodles made of buckwheat are commonly eaten.

Buckwheat like wheat can be not only a food allergen but also aeroallergen, especially for workers in buckwheat noodle factories.

It was reported three cases of buckwheat flour allergy in children using buckwheat chaff-stuffed pillows, who had been treated as nonatopic asthmatics after undergoing the routine allergy skin and serologic tests.

 The result showed that small amount of buckwheat flour attached to buckwheat chaff-stuffed pillow can induce buckwheat flour sensitization and buckwheat chaff-stuffed pillow should be considered a main cause of childhood nocturnal asthma in these asthmatics exposed to these pillows (Lee, S.Y, Lee., K.S Hong, C.H and Lee, K.Y (2001) Three cases of childhood nocturnal asthma due to buckwheat allergy, Allergy, 56: 763-766).

As buckwheat is now becoming a common food in countries such as the USA and France, one might suspect a progression of buckwheat allergy through the world.

Clinically symptomatic patients with buckwheat allergy usually show strong skin reactivity and high levels of specific IgE to buckwheat. Most allergic symptoms’ to buckwheat are objective manifestations such as urticaria, asthma symptoms and hypotension, among others.
Buckwheat allergy