The importance of Trifolium pratense in phytotherapy

Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) has recently received considerable interest as a valuable source of isoflavones for many human health benefits, particularly in the area of women?s health. In red clover, the main isoflavones are formononetin and biochanin A, with smaller concentrations of daidzein and genistein.This genus is represented by 120 taxons in the flora of Turkey and, up to date, no any analytical study has been performed on Turkish Trifolium species. In this study, the methanolic and aside hydrolyzed methanolic extracts prepared from the aerial parts of two varieties of Trifolium pratense collected from different parts of Turkey, namely T. pratense var. pratense and T. pratense var. sativum, have been analyzed to determine the concentrations of four isoflavones, daidzein, genistein, formononetin and biochanin A, by HPLC. As a conclusion, the highest content of total daidzein, genistein, formononetin, and biochanin A were found as 0.0447, 0.0115, 0.0251 and 0.0039 % in T. pratense var. pratense, respectively.