Isoflavonoids are a class of flavonoid

Flavonoid

Flavonoids , are a class of plant secondary metabolites....

 polyphenolic compounds. They are biologically active compounds, such as phytoestrogens, produced by pea family plants.

Isoflavonoids are derived from the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway via liquiritigenin or naringenin

Naringenin

Naringenin is a flavanone, a type of flavonoid, that is considered to have a bioactive effect on human health as antioxidant, free radical scavenger, anti-inflammatory, carbohydrate metabolism promoter, and immune system modulator. It is the predominant flavanone in grapefruit.-Biological...

.

Pterocarpan

Pterocarpan

Pterocarpans are derivatives of isoflavonoids found in the Fabaceae family. It is a group of compounds which can be described as benzo-pyrano-furano-benzenes Pterocarpans are derivatives of isoflavonoids found in the Fabaceae family. It is a group of compounds which can be described as...

s are derived from isoflavonoids.

Chemical makeup

While flavonoids (in the narrow sense) have the 2-phenylchromen-4-one backbone, isoflavonoids have the 3-phenylchromen-4-one backbone (Number 574-12-9, chemical formula C₁₅H₁₀O₂, exact mass : 222.0680792) with no hydroxyl group substitution at position 2 (case of the isoflavone

Isoflavone

Isoflavones comprise a class of organic compounds, often naturally occurring, related to the isoflavonoids. Many act as phytoestrogens in mammals...

s) or the 3-phenylchroman (isoflavan, CAS number : 4737-26-2) backbone (case of isoflavanes, e.g. : equol

Equol

Equol is an isoflavandiol metabolized from daidzein, a type of isoflavone, by bacterial flora in the intestines. While endogenous estrogenic hormones such as estradiol are steroids, equol is a nonsteroidal estrogen. However, only about 30-50% of people have intestinal bacteria that make equol...

).