The flavonoid content in leaves and inflorescences of the wild perennial Fagopyrum cymosum complex

The Fagopyrum cymosum complex is a group of wild perennial buckwheats which includes the diploid species F. megaspartanium Q. F. Chen and F. pilus Q. F. Chen as well as the allotetraploid species F. cymosum (Trev.) Meisn. The flavonoid content in leaves and inflorescences of the accessions of the F. cymosum complex native to Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, and Tibet has been studied by means of the spectrophotometry and high-performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that there are significant differences of flavonoid content among different species, different accessions and different plants. The average flavonoid content of leaves of F. megaspartanium is higher than that of F. pilus and of F. cymosum. The average flavonoid content of inflorescences of F. megaspartanium is higher than that of F. pilus. The results also showed that the flavonoid content in inflorescences was significantly higher than that in leaves, and that they have positive relationships to each other. There is a significant difference of rutin content between leaves and inflorescences, but there is no significant relationship to each other. There is also no significant relationship between leaf rutin contents and leaf flavonoid contents, but significant positive relationship between inflorescence rutin contents and inflorescence flavonoid contents.