Buckwheat seeds were subjected to the soaking process, in
which they were immersed in water and allowed to absorb sufficient water, to
decrease the number of bacteria in buckwheat flour. Aerobic plate count, the
number of coliform bacteria, and the number of thermoduric bacteria in
buckwheat flour decreased considerably following this process. Buckwheat flour
was prepared from buckwheat seed after soaking process and a noodle-making test
was performed. Little change was observed in the protein content, which is the
main ingredient of buckwheat flour. Moreover, physical properties of the
noodles prepared from the flour from buckwheat seed after processing and of
those prepared from the flour from buckwheat seed without processing, did not
show significant difference. Therefore, soaking process decreases the number of
bacteria in buckwheat flour effectively.