Isoflavone levels and isoflavone chemical composition in 11 cultivars of soybean, including 4 Indian and 7 genotypes of soybean grown in Bulgaria, were analyzed as determined by C 18 reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode array detector. Antioxidant activity of soybean extracts was assessed using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, and total phenolic compounds (TPC) were determined by using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. The range of total isoflavones (TI) was 558.2-1048.6 microg g (-1) of soy in Indian cultivars, and it was 627.9-1716.9 microg g (-1) of soy in the case of Bulgarian cultivars. The highest and lowest total isoflavone contents were observed for Maus-2 (1048.6 microg g (-1) of soy) and Hardee (558.2 microg g (-1) of soy), respectively, for the Indian cultivars, and they were observed for Boryara (1716.9 microg g (-1) of soy) and Line 5 (627.9 microg g (-1) of soy) for the Bulgarian genotypes. DPPH radical scavenging activity did not differ significantly among the cultivars and did not correlate with TI, whereas TPC correlated well with TI and weakly with DPPH. Malonylglucoside of all the aglycones, total genistein (TGin), and total daidzein (TDin) showed strong correlation with total isoflavones, whereas acetylglucoside and aglycone levels did not significantly correlate with total isoflavone. Profiling of soybean isoflavone is helpful in understanding the regulation of isoflavone biosynthesis for greater improved resistance of crops to disease and greater health benefits for humans. This comparative study of soybean cultivars grown in India and Bulgaria throws light on their composition and nutraceutical value.

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