Isoflavone profiles,phenol content,and antioxidant activity of soybean seeds as influenced by cultivar and growing location in Ohio

Isoflavone levels and isoflavone chemical composition in soybeans vary between planting locations although the exact factors which control isoflavone biosynthesis are unclear. We compared levels of 12 isoflavones in soybean seeds of six cultivars grown in four different locations in Ohio in 2002 as determined by high‐performance liquid chromatography. Antioxidant activity contained in plant‐based foods can improve food oxidative stability and phenolics and isoflavones have proven active in food systems. Radical scavenging activity was assessed using the 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical. Total phenolics (TPCs) were determined by using Folin–Ciocalteu reagent. Total isoflavones (TIs) varied five‐fold (1573–7710 nmol g^?1) between seeds from the various location–cultivar combinations. One location (Wooster, Ohio) produced seeds containing half the isoflavones as the other locations tested apparently due to poor growing conditions. The cultivars could be divided into two groups based on TI, one having approximately 50% more isoflavones. Surprisingly, across the entire data set, with increasing TI, the proportion of isoflavones accounted for by the daidzein family increased due primarily to malonyl daidzin. DPPH scavenging did not differ significantly by location or cultivar (P > 0.05) and did not correlate with TPC or TI. Profiling soybean isoflavones could help elucidate how isoflavone biosynthesis is regulated and lead to better disease resistance of soybean crops and soy foods with greater health benefits. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry