Equol-containing fermentation product of soybean embryonic axis, and method for production thereof

An object of the invention is to provide an equol-containing fermented soybean hypocotyl material that is useful for foods, pharmaceutical preparations, cosmetic products, etc. The equol-containing fermented soybean hypocotyl material of the invention is obtained by fermenting soybean hypocotyls using at least one microorganism having an equol-producing ability by utilizing at least one daidzein compound selected from the group consisting of diadzein glycosides, daidzein, and dihydrodaidzein.