Non-isoflavone phytoestrogenic compound contents of various legumes

Widely consumed legumes including chickpeas, red kidney beans, haricot beans, yellow lentils, red lentils and green lentils were analysed to determine the content of non-isoflavone phytoestrogenic compounds such as quercetin, rutin, apigenin, coumestrol and lignan (matairesinol and secoisolariciresinol). Methanolic extracts obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction were analysed by the triple quadrupole LC–MS/MS. Red kidney beans were the best source of quercetin (603.2 ± 307.2 μg/kg) and rutin (73.4 ± 14.0 μg/kg). Apigenin and secoisolariciresinol contents were the highest in yellow lentils (18.5 ± 0.84 μg/kg) and haricot beans (451.9 ± 192.2 μg/kg), respectively. Coumestrol contents of haricot beans (18.5 ± 1.45 μg/kg) and red kidney beans (18.5 ± 1.26 μg/kg) were equal to each other, and these were determined as the highest coumestrol content values. The best sources of matairesinol occurred in green lentils (28.2 ± 0.18 μg/kg) and chickpeas (27.7 ± 1.83 μg/kg). Differences between contents of each sample of the same legume were significant and remarkable, especially for quercetin and secoisolariciresinol.