The effects of gamma radiation on soybean isoflavones contents

Soybean (Glycine max) is the most common source of isoflavones in human feeding. It was suggested that there is a correlation among antioxidant activity of flavonoids and total phenolics content. Plants use isoflavones and their derivatives as part of the plant's defensive arsenal, to ward off disease-causing pathogenic fungi and other microbes. Highly processed foods made from legumes, such as tofu, retain most of their isoflavone content, with the exception of fermented miso, which has increased levels. Little is known about the influence of oxidative stress induced by radiation on the isoflavones contents. In the present paper, the effects of gamma irradiation on soybean isoflavones contents are presented. Samples from several Brazilian soybean cultivars were gamma irradiated with doses of 0, 1, 2, 5 e 10 kGy, dose rate about 3 kGy/h in a 60Co (Gammacell 220 - AECL). Isoflavones contents were determined after extraction with 70% ethanol containing 0.1% acetic acid by an HPLC method. The total isoflavone content remained almost unchanged with the increase of radiation dose up to 10 kGy. Although a general correlation among total isoflavone content and radiation dose was not found, some data suggest that for a few of the isoflavones from specific cultivars, the increase in the radiation dose induced a decrease in their content as for glucosyl glucosides and malonyl isoflavones, as well as an increase in their aglycone content. (author)