Determination of the concentration of genistein in various parts of psoralea esculenta (prairie turnip)

CHED 230

David Stoos, david.stoos@briarcliff.edu and Paul L Weber, paul.weber@briarcliff.edu. Department of Chemistry, Briar Cliff University, 3303 Rebecca St., Sioux City, IA 51104
Genistein is an isoflavone isolated from plants which exhibits a variety of beneficial physiological effects in humans. Sources of genistein are numerous and it is particularly abundant in legumes, occurring in large amounts in Psoralea corylifolia (Indian root bread) which is a plant that is common in eastern cultures such as China and India. A related plant, Psoralea esculenta or Prairie Turnip, is found in native prairies of Midwestern United States. In this report, HPLC was used to quantitate genistein in the roots, leaves, stems and seeds, of the Prairie Turnip. Other analytical methods, including GC/MS, were also employed in the analysis.