Allozyme variability at 19 loci affecting 12 enzymes was analyzed electrophoretically in 21 populations from Europe and six populations from the silk road. Most of the populations were polymorphic at seven loci, Dia-2, Got-2, Mdh-1, Mdh-3, Pgm-1, Pgm-2 and Sdh-1. As compared with Chinese populations, European populations have completely lost variability at Adh and 6-Pgdh-1. Populations from southern Europe have less variability than those from other parts of Europe. They have lost variability at Pgm-2 and have a greatly reduced frequency of the F allele at Mdh-1; occasionally, however, they show an increase in the frequency of the U allele at the Got-2 locus. Southern European populations show an increase in the det allele and in grey colored varieties. As a group, European populations show the smallest genetic distance with populations from the silk road and northern China. Combining these genetic findings with written documents and archeological evidence, I conclude that European buckwheat came from northern China via the silk road, and that it changed in many respects within the last 500 years.