Effect of Heat Processing on Thermal Stability of Kudzu (Pueraria thumbergiana Bentham) Root Isoflavones

Effect of heat processing on thermal stability of kudzu root isoflavone was investigated for future use such as various processed foods and functional foods. Kudzu root extracts were heated at 80, 100, 121, 140, 165, and for up to 90 minutes before and after concentration, respectively. Changes in the amount of isoflavones were monitored using HPLC and thermal stability was investigated using Arrhenius equation. The amount of both daidzin and genistin decreased slightly during heating at 80, 100 and but decreased significantly above . This indicated that daidzin and genistin are stable at temperatures near the boiling point of water. The degradation of both daidzin and genistin occurred in two steps and each step showed typical first order kinetic. The degradation rates were faster in the first step than the second step in both daidzin and genistin. Additionally, the degradation was accelerated when they heated after concentration compared to the sample heated before concentration. These results suggested that degradation of kudzu root isoflavone was highly dependent on both their concentration and heating temperature. This study provides the basic information on thermal stability of kudzu root isoflavones, which can be used for future processing of functional foods.