| FEMA | N/A |
| CAS | 479-13-0 |
| EINECS | 207-525-6 |
| JECFA Food Flavoring | N/A |
| CoE Number | N/A |
| Organoleptic Notes |
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| Odor | N/A |
| Flavor | N/A |
| Material Notes | a daidzein derivative occurring naturally in forage crops which has some estrogenic activity. Isol. from Medicago spp., Glycine max (soybean), Pisum sativum (pea), Spinacia oleracea (spinach), Brassica oleracea (cabbage), Dolichos biflorus (papadi), Melilotus alba (white melilot), Phaseolus spp. (inc. lima beans, pinto beans) and Vigna unguiculata (all Leguminosae). Potential nutriceutical Coumestrol is a natural organic compound in the class of phytochemicals known as coumestans. It has garnered research interest because of its estrogenic activity and its prevalence in some foods, such as soybeans and herbs such as Pueraria mirifica.; Coumestrol is a phytoestrogen, mimicking the biological activity of estrogens. The chemical shape of coumestrol orients its two hydroxy groups in the same position as the two hydroxy groups in estradiol, allowing it to inhibit the activity of aromatase and hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. These enzymes are involved in the biosynthesis of steroid hormones, and inhibition of these enzymes results in the modulation of hormone production.; Coumestrol, a coumestan isoflavone, has estrogenic properties (phytoestrogens are compounds structurally and functionally similar to 17-estradiol) and is an isoflavonoid phytoalexin produced by soybeans, a low molecular weight antimicrobial compound that is synthesized de novo and accumulates in plants after exposure to microorganisms (i.e.: phytoalexin induction and accumulation in soybean cotyledon tissue is observed with four species of Aspergillus: A. sojae, A. oryzae, A. niger, and A. flavus.). (PMID: 10888516); Coumestrol is a naturally occurring plant coumarin that displays high affinity for the hormone-binding site of the human estrogen receptor (hER), for which it serves as a potent non-steroidal agonist. Coumestrol emits intense blue fluorescence when bound to this protein, making it ideally suited for use as a cytological stain to detect ER in fixed and intact cells. Such observations illustrate the potential for using coumestrol to investigate real-time effects of a variety of physiological stimuli on the subcellular distribution of hER in living cells. (PMID: 8315272) |