isoflavone

[ ahy-soh-fley-vohn ]

noun

1. a phytoestrogen produced chiefly by plants of the legume family, especially soybeans, potentially useful in lowering cholesterol and in treating some cancers and menopausal symptoms.

isoflavone

/ ˌaɪsəʊˈfleɪvəʊn /

noun

1. one of a class of phytoestrogens, found in soya beans and marketed as a health supplement

Word History and Origins

Origin of isoflavone¹

First recorded in 1925–30; iso- + flavone

Example Sentences

Joint lead author Dr Guy Polturak previously at the John Innes Centre and now at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem reflected: "This study is a nice example of how scientific research sometimes takes scientists down unintended paths, eventually leading to unexpected discoveries. The main aim of this research was to learn about wheat chemical defence mechanisms, but it led to interesting new findings on plant biochemistry, in this case the discovery of a unique isoflavone synthase."

From Science Daily

Experiments to determine the structure of triticein surprisingly identified this compound as an isoflavone rather than a flavone, as the team had expected.

From Science Daily

And because triticein is an isoflavone there is a possibility that it may have health benefits like others in this class, although there is much further research to be done on this prospect.

From Science Daily

But she cautioned against using isoflavone supplements, which can contain far greater amounts of the compounds than are found in foods.

From Seattle Times

That said, current research suggests that soy isoflavones only benefit women who have gut bacteria that can convert daidzen — an isoflavone found in soy as well as in most plant foods — into its more active form, equol.

From Seattle Times