Formononetin is an O-methylated isoflavone.

Natural occurrences

Formononetin is found in a number of plants and herbs such as

red clover ''Trifolium pratense'', the red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalized in many other regions. Description Red clov ...

. Along with other phytoestrogens, it predominantly occurs in

leguminous A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...

plants and Fabaceae, particularly in

beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes t ...

, such as

green beans Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean ('' Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedali ...

, lima beans, soy and many others, as the free

aglycone An aglycone (aglycon or genin) is the compound remaining after the glycosyl group on a glycoside is replaced by a hydrogen atom. For example, the aglycone of a cardiac glycoside would be a steroid A steroid is a biologically active organic c ...

or in form of its glucoside ononin. It can also be found in ''

Maackia amurensis ''Maackia amurensis'', commonly known as the Amur maackia, is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae that can grow 15 metres (49 ft) tall. The species epithet and common names are from the Amur River region, where the tree originated; it ...

'' cell cultures.

Pharmacodynamics

Formononetin promotes angiogenesis. It is also involved in expressing the gene and proteins that are needed to make IgE.

Derivatives

Ononin is the 7-''O''-β-D-glucopyranoside of formononetin.

References

{{Isoflavone O-methylated isoflavones