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Isoflavones
Isoflavones are a type of naturally-occurring isoflavonoids, many of which act as phytoestrogens in mammals. Isoflavones occur in many plant species, but are especially high in soybeans. Although isoflavones and closely-related phytoestrogens are sold as dietary supplements, there is little scientific evidence for either the safety of long-term supplementation or of health benefits from these compounds. Some studies indicate that isoflavone supplementation may help lower the risk of hormone-related cancers. Organic chemistry and biosynthesis Isoflavone is an isomer of flavone, which is chromone substituted with a phenyl group in the 2-position. In isoflavone, the phenyl group is in the 3-position. Substituted isoflavone derivatives are related to the parent by the replacement of two or three hydrogen atoms with hydroxyl groups. Isoflavone differs from flavone (2-phenyl-4''H''-1-benzopyr-4-one) in location of the phenyl group. Isoflavones are produced via a branch of the genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genistein
Genistein (C15H10O5) is a plant-derived, aglycone isoflavone. Genistein has the highest content of all isoflavones in soybeans and soy products, such as tempeh. As a type of phytoestrogen, genistein has estrogenic activity in vitro; consequently, its long-term intake by consuming soy products may affect reproductive organs, such as the uterus and breast. It was first isolated in 1899 from the dyer's broom, ''Genista tinctoria''; hence, the chemical name. The compound structure was established in 1926, when it was found to be identical with that of prunetol. It was chemically synthesized in 1928. Genistein is a primary secondary metabolite of the ''Trifolium'' species and '' Glycine max'' (soy). Natural occurrences Isoflavones, such as genistein and daidzein, occur in soybeans and various other plants, including lupin, fava beans, kudzu, psoralea, '' Flemingia vestita'', and coffee. It is present in red clover. In soybean products Isoflavone intake from consuming soy pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soybean
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of food, useful both for its protein and oil content. Soybean oil is widely used in cooking, as well as in industry. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include edamame, as well as soy milk, from which tofu and tofu skin are made. Fermented soy foods include soy sauce, fermented bean paste, nattō, and tempeh. Fat-free (defatted) soybean meal is a significant and cheap source of protein for animal feeds and many packaged meals. For example, soybean products, such as textured vegetable protein (TVP), are ingredients in many meat and dairy substitutes. Soy based foods are traditionally associated with East Asian cuisines, and still constitute a major part of East Asian diets, but processed soy products are increasingly used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daidzein
Daidzein (7-hydroxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4H-chromen-4-one) is a naturally occurring compound found exclusively in soybeans and other legumes, and structurally belongs to a class of compounds known as isoflavones. Daidzein and other isoflavones are produced in plants through the Phenylpropanoids metabolism, phenylpropanoid pathway of secondary metabolism and are used as signal carriers, and defense responses to pathogenic attacks. Upon consumption of isoflavone-rich foods, daidzein has poor bioavailability and low water solubility. Natural occurrence Daidzein and other isoflavone compounds, such as genistein, are present in a number of plants and herbs like kwao krua (''Pueraria mirifica'') and kudzu. It can also be found in ''Maackia amurensis'' cell cultures. Daidzein can be found in food such as mature soybeans and soy products like soy protein concentrate, tofu and textured vegetable protein. Total isoflavones in soybeans are—in general—37 percent daidzein, 57 percent ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phytoestrogen
A phytoestrogen is a plant-derived xenoestrogen (a type of estrogen produced by organisms other than humans) not generated within the endocrine system, but consumed by eating plants or manufactured foods. Also called a "dietary estrogen", it is a diverse group of naturally occurring nonsteroidal plant compounds that, because of its structural similarity to estradiol (17-β-estradiol), have the ability to cause both estrogenic or antiestrogenic effects. Phytoestrogens are not essential nutrients because their absence from the diet does not cause a disease, nor are they known to participate in any normal biological function. Common foods containing phytoestrogens are soybeans and soy protein concentrate, miso, tempeh, and tofu. Some soy-based infant formulas manufactured with soy protein contain isoflavones. Its name comes from the Greek ''phyto'' ("plant") and ''estrogen'', the hormone which gives fertility to female mammals. The word "estrus" (Greek οίστρος) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isoflavonoid
Isoflavonoids are a class of flavonoid phenolic compounds, many of which are biologically active. Isoflavonoids and their derivatives are sometimes referred to as phytoestrogens, as many isoflavonoid compounds have biological effects via the estrogen receptor. Medically, isoflavonoids and related compounds have been used in many dietary supplements but the medical and scientific community is generally skeptical of their use. Recently, some natural isoflavonoids have been identified as toxins, including biliatresone which may cause biliary atresia when infants are exposed to the plant product. The isoflavonoid group is broad, and includes many structurally similar groups, including: * isoflavones * isoflavanones * isoflavans * pterocarpans * rotenoids Isoflavonoids are derived from the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway via liquiritigenin or naringenin. Chemical makeup While flavonoids (in the narrow sense) have the 2-phenylchromen-4-one backbone, isoflavonoids have the 3- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fungus
A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one of the kingdom (biology)#Six kingdoms (1998), traditional eukaryotic kingdoms, along with Animalia, Plantae, and either Protista or Protozoa and Chromista. A characteristic that places fungi in a different kingdom from plants, bacteria, and some protists is chitin in their cell walls. Fungi, like animals, are heterotrophs; they acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by secreting digestive enzymes into their environment. Fungi do not photosynthesize. Growth is their means of motility, mobility, except for spores (a few of which are flagellated), which may travel through the air or water. Fungi are the principal decomposers in ecological systems. These and other differences place fungi in a single group of related o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microbe
A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from antiquity, with an early attestation in Jain literature authored in 6th-century BC India. The scientific study of microorganisms began with their observation under the microscope in the 1670s by Anton van Leeuwenhoek. In the 1850s, Louis Pasteur found that microorganisms caused food spoilage, debunking the theory of spontaneous generation. In the 1880s, Robert Koch discovered that microorganisms caused the diseases tuberculosis, cholera, diphtheria, and anthrax. Microorganisms are extremely diverse, representing most unicellular organisms in all three domains of life: two of the three domains, Archaea and Bacteria, only contain microorganisms. The third domain, Eukaryota, includes all multicellular organisms as well as many unicellular protists and protozoans that are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by restricting the former term specifically to displaced soil. Soil consists of a solid collection of minerals and organic matter (the soil matrix), as well as a porous phase that holds gases (the soil atmosphere) and water (the soil solution). Accordingly, soil is a three- state system of solids, liquids, and gases. Soil is a product of several factors: the influence of climate, relief (elevation, orientation, and slope of terrain), organisms, and the soil's parent materials (original minerals) interacting over time. It continually undergoes development by way of numerous physical, chemical and biological processes, which include weathering with associated erosion. Given its complexity and strong internal connectedness, soil ecologists ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phytoalexin
Phytoalexins are antimicrobial substances, some of which are antioxidative as well. They are defined not by their having any particular chemical structure or character, but by the fact that they are defensively synthesized ''de novo'' by plants that produce the compounds rapidly at sites of pathogen infection. In general phytoalexins are broad spectrum inhibitors; they are chemically diverse, and different chemical classes of compounds are characteristic of particular plant taxa. Phytoalexins tend to fall into several chemical classes, including terpenoids, glycosteroids, and alkaloids; however, the term applies to any phytochemicals that are induced by microbial infection. Function Phytoalexins are produced in plants to act as toxins to the attacking organism. They may puncture the cell wall, delay maturation, disrupt metabolism or prevent reproduction of the pathogen in question. Their importance in plant defense is indicated by an increase in susceptibility of plant tissue t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhizobium
''Rhizobium'' is a genus of Gram-negative soil bacteria that fix nitrogen. ''Rhizobium'' species form an endosymbiotic nitrogen-fixing association with roots of (primarily) legumes and other flowering plants. The bacteria colonize plant cells to form root nodules, where they convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia using the enzyme nitrogenase. The ammonia is shared with the host plant in the form of organic nitrogenous compounds such as glutamine or ureides. The plant, in turn, provides the bacteria with organic compounds made by photosynthesis. This mutually beneficial relationship is true of all of the rhizobia, of which the genus ''Rhizobium'' is a typical example. ''Rhizobium'' is also capable of solubilizing phosphate. History Martinus Beijerinck was the first to isolate and cultivate a microorganism from the nodules of legumes in 1888. He named it ''Bacillus radicicola'', which is now placed in '' Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology'' under the gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
