Abstract: Puerarin is the major bioactive ingredient of Pueraria lobata, a traditional medicinal and edible plant in China, and it exerts multiple biological activities, including cardiovascular protection, anti-diabetes, anti-tumor, neuroprotection, bone protection, phytoestrogen-like function and regulating intestinal flora. It is widely used in healthcare, biomedicine, and food processing, exerting extensive and favorable effects. Based on an extensive literature search in the CNKI, Web of Science and PubMed databases in the past five years, this paper summarizes the extraction methods, biological activities and application in food processing of puerarin and discusses future prospects to provide references for the development and application of new puerarin-based products.

Key words: Puerariae lobatae; puerarin; extraction process; biological activity; food processing