Research Progresses in Physiological Functions of and Detection Methods for Soybean Isoflavones

Soybean isoflavones,a kind of secondary metabolites formed in soybean growth,with weak estrogenic activity and antioxidant,anti-hemolytic and antifungal activities,can effectively prevent or treat many diseases such as cancer,osteoporosis and women's menopause syndrome.A review was made on the research progresses in the structure,property,extraction,separation,analysis and detection of soybean isoflavones for providing some references for the comprehensive utilization of soybean isoflavones and the development of their derivatives.