## 2 Results and Discussions
### Multivariate Statistical Analysis  
For exploratory data analysis purposes, principal components analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were used as unsupervised statistical methods in order to discriminate between the RCV and ALF sprouts samples during germination, based on the total polyphenols (TP), anti-radical activity (AA), sum of isoflaves with estrogenic activity, and elemental profile composition (Ca, K, Mg, Na, Fe, Zn, Se, Ag, Ni, Zn, Mn, and Cu).  
The first two principal components (PC 1 and PC 2) with 68.34% of the whole variances were extracted from PCA analysis. PC 1 accounted for 46.78% variances and PC 2 accounted for 21.56%. The other principal components that had a minor effect on the model were discarded. The distribution in the PC1-PC2 score plot plane of the RCV and ALF sprouts samples during germination is presented in Figure 4.  
Figure 4: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the RCV and ALF sprouts samples during 5 days of germination based on total polyphenols (TP), anti-radical activity (AA), and the sum of isoflaves with estrogenic activity and elemental profile composition.  
Along PC1 can be discriminated the RCV seeds from the RCV sprouts corresponding to the 5 days of germination, and also the ALF seeds and ALF sprouts corresponding to the first 2 days of germination from ALF sprouts corresponding to the last 3 days of germinations. It can be noticed that the elemental profile and AA have the highest contribution to the total variation, along PC1, while TP and isoflaves with estrogenic activity have a lower contribution.  
Along PC2 axis can be discriminated two clusters, corresponding to the ALF sprouts, except the ALF seeds, on the right side and RCV sprouts on the left side. The elemental profile and AA have the highest contribution for the discrimination of ALF samples, while isoflaves with estrogenic activity and TP contribute to the discrimination of RCV samples during the germination. PCA analysis revealed the correlations among the elemental composition and bioactive potential of sprouts. Our results revealed that Mg, Cu, K, and isoflaves with estrogenic activity are representative for RCV sprouts in the fourth and the fifth day of germination, while Fe, Mn, Zn, Ni, Na, Ca, and Se characterize the ALF sprouts during the germination process. TP characterizes the RCV seeds and ALF seeds.  
Hierarchical Cluster Analysis using Ward's method and Euclidean distance was used to assess the dissimilarities between ALF and RCV sprouts samples during 5 days of germination based on total polyphenols (TP), anti-radical activity (AA), and sum of isoflaves with estrogenic activity and elemental profile composition. The dendrogram (Figure 5) shows the clustering of the investigated samples in three separated classes: class 1 (C1) refers to the ALF seeds, RCV seeds, and RCV sprouts corresponding to the first two days of germination; class 2 (C2) include ALF sprouts corresponding for the first 2 days of germination and RCV day 3; class 3 (C3) grouped together the RCV sprouts corresponding to the fourth and fifth day of germination and ALF sprouts from day 3 to day 5 of germination.