The hull is very tough. Even after soaking and boiling, Unhulled buckwheat is too chewy for most people’s tastes.
It can be ground into a dark buckwheat flour that will be greyish, with minute black specks in it. Because of the hull still in it, unhulled buckwheat flour will be stronger tasting and darker than flour ground from hulled buckwheat.
Unhulled buckwheat can also be used to grow greens called variously “Buckwheat Lettuce”, “Buckwheat Grass” or “Buckwheat Greens.” These greens can be used for salads, sandwiches or juicing.
It cannot be used for sprouts as unhulled buckwheat sprouts would still have the tough hull on them making them inedible for most people’s preferences.
When hulled, buckwheat is called “buckwheatgGroats.”