Soy isoflavones have been associated with several beneficial effects to human health including estrogenic action. Due to the risks associated with pharmaceutical hormone replacement therapy, soy extracts rich in isoflavones and metabolites appear as a safe alternative for menopausal women. This study aimed to improve the process conditions for biotransformation of soymilk polyphenols by tannase to obtain higher amounts of isoflavone aglycones and metabolites such as equol. The estrogenic potential of the extracts was evaluated in in vitro assays. The results showed that the aglycones increased 36–46 times after reaction with tannase and proved that it is possible to produce equol in soymilk using an enzymatic bioprocess, without gut microbial intervention. Moreover, the soymilk biotransformed by tannase presented higher estrogenic action in the MCF-7 BUS cell line assay, making it a promising nutraceutical with possible effects in the attenuation or treatment of menopause symptoms.

大豆异黄酮与人类健康有多种有益作用，包括雌激素作用。由于与药物激素替代疗法相关的风险，富含异黄酮和代谢产物的大豆提取物似乎是更年期妇女的安全替代品。这项研究旨在改善鞣酸酶对豆浆多酚进行生物转化的工艺条件，以获得更高量的异黄酮糖苷配基和代谢产物，例如雌马酚。提取物的雌激素潜力在体外进行了评估分析。结果表明，与鞣酸酶反应后，糖苷配基增加了36-46倍，并证明可以通过酶促生物过程在豆浆中生产雌马酚，而无需肠道微生物干预。此外，经鞣酸酶生物转化的豆浆在MCF-7 BUS细胞系测定中表现出更高的雌激素作用，使其成为一种有前途的营养保健品，对减轻或治疗更年期症状可能具有影响。