It was first isolated in 1931 from the 90% methanol extract of a soybean meal, when it was found that hydrolysis with hydrochloric acid produced 1 mole each of genistein and glucose.

Hydrolysis actually starts very quickly in the digestive system once genistin is ingested, conversion begins in the mouth and then continues in the small intestine.

At a concentration of 1200 ppm, genistin caused significant increase of growth of breast tumors (MCF-7), cellular proliferation and estrogen-responsive pS2 gene expression in mice.

[4] In vitro study have shown that both genistin and genistein are capable of enhancing bone metabolism in the femoral-metaphyseal tissues of elderly rats.

[5] The presence of genistein or genistin in the tissue culture caused a significant increase in alkaline phosphatase activity, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and calcium contents.