Genistein isoflavone glycoconjugates in sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) cultivars

The isoflavone genistein on the contrary to its well-established health-beneficial effects is not a major component of the Western diet, since soy consumption, considered as the main dietary source of genistein, in these populations is low. Genistein compounds in twelve commercial sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) cultivars grown in Hungary were studied. High performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionisation quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-qToF-MS) was used for screening and confirmatory analyses. Genistin and genistein were found in ‘Pipacs1’, ‘Kántorjánosi’, ‘Debreceni bőtermő’ and ‘Éva’, which are native cultivars to Hungary. Genistein content of the latter three were in the range of 0.4–0.6, while in ‘Pipacs1’ in total 4.4 mg genistein compounds were measured expressed as aglycone equivalents per 100 g of fresh fruit flesh. These cultivars may play important role as complementary genistein sources in the Western diet. Especially ‘Pipacs 1’, may be best utilised in functional food products.