Isolation and Characterization of Phytochemical Constituents from Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.)

Four flavonoids 1-4 and one phytosterol 5 were isolated from methanol extract of Taekwangkong, one of the soybean cultivars, and the structures of these compounds were fully characterized by physical and spectral analysis. The content of compounds 1-4 as determined by $C_{18}$ reversed phase HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) coupled with diode-array detector were 12.1, 624.6, 18.0, and $219.6\;{\mu}g/g$, respectively, and the total phenolic content of this cultivar was measured as 3.7 mg gallic acid equivalent per g dry material (GAB/g). Also, compound 1 showed strong radical scavenging activity in the 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assay ($IC_{50}\;=\;47.6\;{\mu}M$), five-fold higher than seen in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylliydrazyl (DPPH) assay. These results lead to the conclusion that soybean not only has many phytoestrogens but also has potent antioxidant activity.