Legume seed isoflavones may have a variety of desirable physiological effect on the human health including both the circulatory and skeletal systems. The present study was performed to determine the isoflavone content of leaf and seed as well as to purify and identify the types of isoflavone from leaf extract of hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet). Reverse phase HPLC revealed six different types of isoflavone such as daidzin, genistin, daidzein, genistein, 6"-o-acetyl genistin and 6"-o-acetyl daidzin in aqueous methanol extract from seeds and leaves of the hyacinth bean. Relatively, leaf isoflavone content of hyacinth bean was greater than seed isoflavone content. Using DiAion HP-20 silica gel and sephadex LH-20 chromatography, pure daidzein was identified in the ether layer, whereas genistin was in the EtOAC fraction.

To analyze their isoflavones contents by HPLC analysis during two years on 60 collected old local traditional soybean varieties from various districts of Korea was conducted. There was a yearly variation in the seed isoflavon concentrations. The total contents on 5 isoflavones were in the range from 16.21mg/g to 25.21 mg/g and from 6.47 mg/g to 15.44 mg/g, in 1997 and 1998, respectively. Collected soybean from Gunsnsi-1(25.21 mg/g) in 1997 and from Gangjingun-3 (16.50 mg/g) in 1998 showed the highest amount of isoflavones as compared with other collected soybean varieties. The highest amount among 5 isoflavones was genistin as 48.45% and 49.73%, in 1997 and 1998, respectively, indicating the genotypic variation in seed isoflavon contents of local soybean cultivar. Our data suggest that it may be feasible for improving soybean variety with higher antioxiadtive activity and substances.

Soyfoods have potential roles in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, most notably cancer, osteoporosis, and heart disease. There is evidence that carcinogenesis are supressed by isolated soybean derived products in vivo such as a protease inhibitor, phytic acid, saponins and isoflavones. It is believed that supplementation of human diets with soybean products markedly reduces human cancer mortality rates. Especially, recent papers recognize the potential benefit of soybean isoflavone components for reducing the risk of various cancers. Isoflavones exhibit a multitude of medicinal effects that influence cell growth and regulation, which may have potential value in the prevention and treatment of cancer. In addition to potential biological effects, soybean isoflavones have the important physiological functions such as the induction of Bradyrizobium japonicum nod genes and the responses of soybean tissues to infection by Phytophthora megasperma as well as biochemical activities such as antifungal and antibacterial actions. Genistin, daidzin, glycitin and their aglycone (genistein, daidzein, glycitein) are the principal isoflavones found in soybean. Malonyl and acetyl forms have also been detected but they are thermally unstable and are usually transformed during the processing in glucoside form. Most soy products, with the exception of soy sauce, alcohol-extracted soy protein concentrate, and soy protein isolate, have total isoflavone concentrations similar to those in the whole soybean. Soybean-containing diets inhibit mammary tumorigenesis in animal models of breast cancer, therefore, it is possible that dietary isoflavones are an important factor accounting for the lower incidence and mortality from breast cancer. Of the total soybean seed isoflavones, 80~~90~% were located in cotyledons, with the remainder in the hypocotyls. The hypocotyls had a higher concentrations of isoflavones on a weight basis compared with cotyledons. Isoflavone contents were influenced by genetics, crop years, and growth locations. The effect of crop year had a greater impact on the isoflavone contents than that of location. The climate condition might be the attribution factor to variation in isoflavone contents. Also, while the isoflavone content of cotyledons exhibited large variations in response to high temperature during seed development, hypocotyls showed high concentration in isoflavone content. So, it is concluded that one of the factors affecting isoflavone content in soybean seeds is temperature during seed development. High temperature, especially in maturity stage, causes lower isoflavone content in soybean seed. It is also suggested that there may exist a different mechanism to maintain isoflavone contents between cotyledon and seed hypocotyls. In a conclusion, soy foods may be able to have a significant beneficial impact on public health.