Is buckwheat high in histamine?
Buckwheat is probably low in histamine, but it has not been measured in the studies we use. It is a dry, unfermented seed. With soba noodles, the soy-based sauce is the high-histamine part, not the noodles.
- Histamine
- Not measured
- Other amines
- Not measured
- Liberator
- Not on the lists we use
- DAO blocker
- No evidence
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| Cereals measured in Spain 1 | Measured | Buckwheat was not tested. The cereals that were had no detectable histamine; 28 samples averaged 0.12 mg/kg. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 2 | Buckwheat is not on the review's chart of foods the diets exclude. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
How freshness and processing change it
Dry groats, kasha and flour keep well and are not fermented. Cooked buckwheat kept for several days was not measured; we rate it a step higher because it is stored moist after cooking.
Not measured. A dry, unfermented seed. (estimate)
Not measured. Often part wheat flour; wheat pasta had no histamine. (estimate)
Not measured. Cooked and stored moist. (estimate)
Why we rate buckwheat 0
Buckwheat turns up in low-histamine cooking as groats, as kasha, as flour for pancakes and galettes, and in soba noodles, but none of the studies we use measured it. It is absent from the University of Barcelona team's Spanish cereal data, from the other studies collected in their 2018 review, and from their 2021 chart of foods excluded by ten published low-histamine diets.
Despite the name, buckwheat is not a kind of wheat, or a cereal at all. It is the seed of a broadleaf plant related to rhubarb and sorrel, and it contains no gluten. That means the cereal figures are only a guide, but they are reassuring. Every cereal the team tested had no detectable histamine, and 28 cereal samples pooled in a 2020 review averaged 0.12 mg/kg, none above 0.89 mg/kg. The 2018 review explains that cereals in principle contain no amines other than putrescine, which comes from the plant itself.
Our rating rests on how buckwheat is made and stored. Groats are hulled and dried; kasha is the same groats roasted; flour is the groats milled. None of these steps involves fermentation, and histamine in food is formed mainly when bacteria break down the amino acid histidine, which is why fermented foods and spoiled fish and meat are the usual sources.
Soba is a different case, because of what it is served with. Many soba noodles are a mix of buckwheat and wheat flour, and wheat pasta had no histamine in seven samples. The dipping sauce or broth is usually based on soy sauce, a fermented soy product. Soy-fermented products were among the highest-histamine foods in the Spanish survey, averaging 73.95 mg/kg across 21 samples, with 5% of samples above 486.31 mg/kg. In a bowl of soba, the noodles are the low part.
We rate buckwheat 0, "low", as an estimate, and this page says plainly that it was not measured. Groats, kasha, porridge and pancakes made from the flour and eaten fresh fit the rating best. Cooked buckwheat kept for several days was not measured, and we rate it 1 because it is stored moist. Galettes filled with ham and aged cheese carry the histamine of the filling. Buckwheat allergy is a separate, immune reaction that this rating does not cover.
Questions about buckwheat and histamine
Is buckwheat low in histamine?
Probably, but it has not been measured in the studies we use. It is a dry, unfermented seed, and every cereal they tested had no detectable histamine, so we rate it low as an estimate.
Are soba noodles low in histamine?
The noodles were not measured, but they are buckwheat and often wheat flour, and wheat pasta had no histamine. The soy-based sauce is the concern: fermented soy products averaged 73.95 mg/kg in a Spanish survey.
Evidence behind this page
- Buckwheat was not among the cereal products in the Spanish database or the other studies collected in the 2018 review (Table 3). 4
- Every cereal product in the Spanish database had no detectable histamine, and cereals contain no amines other than putrescine, which has a physiological origin (Section 3.3). 4
- Across 28 cereal samples, histamine averaged 0.12 mg/kg, with a maximum of 0.89 mg/kg (Table 1). 1
- Soy-fermented products sold in Spain averaged 73.95 mg/kg of histamine across 21 samples, with 5% above 486.31 mg/kg (Table 1); 4 of 10 published diets exclude them (Figure 1). 2
- Histamine in foods is formed mainly by bacteria decarboxylating histidine, so fermented and spoiled foods are the ones likely to accumulate it (Section 1). 2
Sources
- Comas-Basté O, Sánchez-Pérez S, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla M, Vidal-Carou MDC. Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art. Biomolecules 10(8):1181, 2020. doi:10.3390/biom10081181 (Comas-Basté O et al. 2020)
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Low-Histamine Diets: Is the Exclusion of Foods Justified by Their Histamine Content? Nutrients 13(5):1395, 2021. doi:10.3390/nu13051395 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2021)
- Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI). Food compatibility list for histamine intolerance. histaminintoleranz.ch (accessed November 2026), 2026. Link (Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI) 2026)
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Rabell-González J, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Biogenic Amines in Plant-Origin Foods: Are They Frequently Underestimated in Low-Histamine Diets? Foods 7(12):205, 2018. doi:10.3390/foods7120205 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2018)