Influence of phytoestrogens on skeletal muscle structure

Abstract

Constant increase of meat quantity along with ensuring its high quality are nowadays being the priority requirements of the market towards modern meat production. With selection and animal nutrition as the basic mechanisms regulating the quantity and quality of meat, in recent years more attention has been devoted to investigations of the effects of different chemical compounds on muscle tissue, while monitoring their potential negative effects on both animals and humans as the end consumers. A group of compounds that is being increasingly studied in the last years are phytoestrogens – substances of plant origin with chemical structure very similar to estrogen, capable of causing either estrogenic or antiestrogenic reactions in the organism. The most studied phytoestrogens are daidzein and genistein, and due to their ability to mimic estrogen in the body, they are thought to be able of influencing growth and carcass composition in farm animals. This paper gives an overview of the newer results on the effects of phytoestrogens genistein and daidzein on skeletal muscle tissue in farm animals.