Critical issues in R&D of soy isoflavone-enriched foods and dietary supplements

Increasing consumer awareness of soy as a healthy food ingredient has led to a tremendous growth in sales of soy isoflavone-enriched foods and dietary supplements in the past 3 y. Because of their weak estrogenic activity, isoflavones are believed to have preventive effects for several hormone-dependent diseases.This article discusses some critical issues to be considered in any R&D program of novel soy and isoflavone products for the healthy-food market, such as (1) Which isoflavone compounds should be in the product? (2) Which individual isoflavones are the most beneficial ones? (3) Can certain isoflavone groups be targeted to specific disease prevention goals? (4) Are there any safety concerns in isoflavone consumption? (5) How are isoflavones affected by thermal processing and storage? (6) How should isoflavones be analyzed? These questions may affect the choice of isoflavone source, processing conditions, quality control procedures, and marketing considerations.