Development of an analytical method for the quantification of isoflavones in legumes by SPE-UHPLC-MS/MS

Legumes include lentils, beans, chickpeas, fava beans, soy beans and others. Cultivated for thousands of years, they have played an important role in the traditional diets of many regions throughout the world. A new method, that consists of an extraction procedure (ultraturrax), two clean-up procedures (storing in freezer and SPE) and analysis by UHPLC-MS/MS, has been validated and applied to the analysis of five isoflavones in different type of legumes, i.e. lentils, soybeans, chickpeas, fava bean, and others, and to 48 different lentil samples that is one of the most important endemic legumes in central Italy.