Raw buckwheat flour is made by finely grinding hulled, unroasted buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) groats into a whole-grain flour. Despite its name, buckwheat is naturally gluten-free and is a pseudocereal in the Polygonaceae family, along with rhubarb and sorrel, rather than the grass family that includes wheat and other cereal grains. Raw buckwheat flour retains the fiber, protein, minerals, and protective plant compounds found in the whole groat and has a light color and mild, earthy flavor. It differs from flour made from roasted buckwheat groats, which has a darker color, stronger flavor, and different baking characteristics. Raw and roasted buckwheat flours are not always interchangeable in recipes, particularly in gluten-free baking where they can produce noticeably different textures and flavors.