Concentration of Isoflavones and Other Phenolics in the Aerial Parts of <i>Trifolium</i> Species

Abstract

Some species of the genus Trifolium are well-known for their content of isoflavones, which are natural compounds showing health-promoting activities. Until recently, only a few species of this genus have been characterized with respect to their composition. In the present study, 57 Trifolium species have been analyzed for their contents of isoflavones, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and clovamides. The cluster analysis of experimental data allowed us to identify a number of species, which should be of interest as potential sources of these metabolites. The isoflavone contents of the three species ( T. heldreichianum, T. scabrum, and T. subterraneum) had extremely high amounts of these compounds, reaching 7-9% of dry matter, and the concentration in a number of other species was higher or at least comparable to the amounts occurring in T. pratense, one of the major isoflavone sources for the nutraceutical industry. Several species contained high amounts of all four analyzed groups of phenolics (isoflavones, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and clovamides). These species may also be of great interest as the association of several groups of active molecules is highly desired for effective disease prevention.