• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-46
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• 2015

In this study, a blast furnace slag with the alkaliphilic microorganism (Bacillus halodurans) alkaline activator was used to cement natural soils in the field. A low-cost and massive microbial solution for cementation of field soils was produced and compared with existing microbial culture in terms of efficiency. A field soil was prepared for three different cementation areas: a cemented ground with microbial alkaline activator (Microbially-treated soil), a cemented ground with ordinary Portland cement (Cement-treated soil), and untreated ground (Non-treated soil). The testing ground was prepared at a size of 2.6 m in width, 4 m in length, and 0.2 m in depth. After 28 days, a series of unconfined compression tests on the cement-treated and microbially-treated soils were carried out. On the other hand, a torvane test was carried out for non-treated soil. The strength of field soils treated with microorganism was 1/5 times lower than those of cement-treated soil but is 6 times higher than non-treated soil. The pH measured from microbially-treated soil was about 10, which is lower than that of cement-treated soil (pH = 11). Therefore, it is more eco-friendly than Portland cemented soils. The C-S-H hydrates were found in both cement- and microbially-treated soils through SEM-EDS analyses and cement hydrates were also found around soil particles through SEM analysis.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.158-165
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• 2006

In this study, we investigated the biological activity of antioxidant and antibacterial activity of citrus by-product ferment. Among the six probiotic bacteria, Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae had the highest antioxidant activity. Hot water extracts from citrus by-product of ferment were screened for antibacterial activity fish pathogenic bacteria by paper disc method. Among the various hot water extracts, the Bacillus subtilis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pediococcus pentosaceus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium showed relatively strong antibacterial activities in the order. The reducing activity on the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and $O^{2-}$ and OH radical scavenging potential were sequentially screened, in search for antioxidant activities of citrus by-product ferment.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.491-497
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• 1992

The water extract of Sinomeniiacuti Radix (Sinomenium acutum) was found out to have a strong inhibition activity on the growth of Clostridium perfringens. The anti-bacterial activity was stable at the range of pH 1 to pH 13 and kept in a thermal treatment at $121^{\circ}C$ for 15 minutes. The minmal inhibition concentration of the Sinomeniiacuti Radix extract on the growth of Cl. peifringens was 1000 ppm. The Sinomeniiacuti Radix extract also suppressed the growth of Cl. ramosum, Cl. paraputnficum, Cl. butyn'cum, Bifidobacterium blficum, Bacteriodes fragilis, Eubacterium limosum. The extract, however, did not inhibit the growth of Bif adolescentis, Blf. infantis, Bif longum, E. coli. Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus. On the other hand, the extract showed a promoting effect for the growth of Bif animalis and Lactobacillus acidophilus.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.430-435
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• 2010

This study was performed to investigate the antimicrobial effects of Ampelopsis brevipedunculata ethanol-extract on food spoilage or foodborne disease microorganism. The antimicrobial activity of Ampelopsis brevipedunculata extract was determined by a paper disc method. The extract exhibited growth inhibiting activities in a concentration dependent manner on 7 species of microorganisms. The extract of Ampelopsis brevipedunculata showed the highest antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli O157:H7. The growth inhibitory effects of the extract at the concentration of 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000 mg/L on food poisoning microorganism were determined against Salmonella typhimurium, Yersinia enterocolitica, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus. The growth of microorganisms was not affected by the extract at the concentration up to 250 mg/L, but was significantly (p<0.05) inhibited by the extract at the concentration higher than 500 mg/L. The results in the present study demonstrate antimicrobial effects of Ampelopsis brevipedunculata ethanol-extract against foodborne pathogens, suggesting that Ampelopsis brevipedunculata could be an effective natural antibacterial agent in food.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.350-356
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• 2009

In order to develop a natural food preservative, UlGeum (Curcuma longa L.) powder was extracted with ethanol, and its antimicrobial activity was investigated. This ethanol extract showed antimicrobial activity against Bacillussubtilis, Escherichiacoli, and Staphylococcus aureus, and the resulting inhibition zones against the microorganisms by the extract (4 mg/disc) were 11, 10, and 8.5 mm, respectively. To test for further food preservation effects, solutions of the extract were added to rice cakes and noodles at concentrations of 0%, 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1.00%, respectively. Microbial growth was less in the UlGeum ethanol extract-added groups than in the control group. In sensory evaluations, there were significant differences among the groups of rice cakes and noodles in terms of color, taste, flavor, chewiness, and overall acceptability (p<0.05), and the 0.5% added groups received significantly higher scores than the other groups. Furthermore, as storage time increased, the sensory scores of the rice cakes and noodles significantly decreased in all groups (p<0.05). These results suggest that UlGeum is effective for increasing the shelf-life of rice cakes and noodles.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.74-81
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• 2009

In this research, we investigated the actual conditions of water purification systems at ten elementary schools located in Gunsan, Korea from July to December, 2007. The results were as follows; The population densities of heterotrophic bacteria in water purifiers ranged from 0 to $1.2{\pm}0.2{\times}10^4$ CFU/ml and those of tap water were in the range from 0 to $1.9{\pm}0.3{\times}10^4$ CFU/ml during investigation periods. Ninety percentage of purified water samples in July and September, 87.2% in October and November, and 93.7% in December turned out not to be suitable for drinking. The seasonal variation of the population densities of heterotrophic bacteria from purified waters was not notable. The total coliform, Salmonella and Shigella were not detected in purified water and tap water during investigation periods. Forty-five species of bacteria were isolated from water purifiers. The identified bacterial genera were Sphingomonas, Methylobacterium, Caulobacter, Novosphingobium, Bosea, Brevundimonas, Aminobacter, Ralstonia, Mitsuaria, Variovorax, Acidovorax, Massilia, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Aeromonas, Bacillus, Staphylococcus, Brevibacillus, Microbacterium, Lapillicoccus, Micrococcus, Arthrobacter, Janibacter, Flavobacterium, Chryseobacterium, and Hymenobacter: Among the isolates, opportunistic pathogens such as Pseudomonas fluorescens, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Flavobacterium johnsoniae, and Acinetobacter johnsonii were also found.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.305-312
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• 2003

The effect of addition of ethanol and/or organic acid on slowing down the fermentation of Mul-kimchi was tested by measuring the changes in pH, acidity and counting the number of microorganisms in kimchi fermentation, and sensory evaluation were carried out. The addition of 0~5％ ethanol to kimchi delayed the decrease of pH and the delaying effect during kimchi fermentation was dependent on the ethanol concentration used. The pH of kimchi without ethanol decreased from 5.7 to 4.13, however, the pH of the kimchi added with 5％ ethanol only from 5.8 to 5.14. The increase of acidity in kimchi with 5％ ethanol was only 0.5~0.6％, while that without ethanol was 0.7~0.8％. Among the organic acids tested, adipic acid was found to be most effective on the prevention of kimchi souring. The Mul-kimchi added 2％ ethanol together with 0.1％ organic acid showed similar effect to that of organic acid alone in the change of pH and acidity. By the sensory evaluation, Mul-kimchi with 0.1％ adipic acid and 2％ ethanol was selected the most desirable one except control without any addition. And the numbers of total microbes, lactic bacteria and yeast count, showed the most effective inhibition in Mul-kimchi with 0.1％ adipic acid and 2％ ethanol.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.642-649
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• 2012

The southern coast of Korea is important for the ark shell ($Scapharca$ $broughtonii$) aquaculture, but the productivity was rapidly reduced during the previous decade by mass mortality. To overcome this economic loss, investigations only focused on environmental factors, and microbiological researches were performed insufficiently. In this study, two sites (Gangjin and Jinhae bay) were selected for their high and low rate of mortality, respectively, and the existence of microflora from underwater sediments in the bodies of $S.$ $broughtonii$ was analyzed. We screened the whole body of each sample and chose unique colonies, which exhibit alpha- and beta-hemolytic activity, for identification. The microflora in $S.$ $broughtonii$ was less variable than sediments, and restricted species were isolated. We identified 17 genera of 88 species and 16 genera of 64 species from the two bays, respectively. A major proportion was comprised of $Bacillus$ species, with the $Bacillus$ $cereus$ group being the most common species among the $Bacillus$ strains, while $Paenibacillus$, $Lynsilbacillus$, and $Vibrio$ species were the second most abundant species. At the genus level, there were no significant microbial differences between the two coastal regions. 64 species were isolated from rare site (Jinhae bay), but more species (88) with greater variety were isolated from the frequent site (Gangjin bay). Therefore, it was assumed that the cause of mass mortality lay in the difference in specie-level diversity, and conducting investigations on the diagnosis of pathogenic species by challenging tests using isolated unique species.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

Natural products have gained increasing attention due to their advantage of long-term safety and low toxicity for a very long time. Torreya nucifera is widespread in southern Korea and Jeju Island and its seeds are commonly used as edible food. Oriental ingredients have often been reported for their insecticidal, antioxidant and antibacterial properties, but there have not yet been any studies on their antidiabetic effect. In this study, we investigated several biological activities of T. nucifera pericarp (TNP) and seeds (TNS) extracts and proceeded to characterize the antidiabetic compounds of TNS. The initial results suggested that TNS extract at 15 and 10 ㎍/ml concentration has inhibitory effects on α-glucosidase and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B, that is 14.5 and 4.35 times higher than TNP, respectively. Thus, the stronger antidiabetic TNS was selected for the subsequent experiments to characterize its active compounds. Ultrafiltration was used to determine the apparent molecular weight of the active compounds, showing 300 kDa or more. Finally the mixture was then partially purified using Diaion HP-20 column chromatography by eluting with 50~100% methanol. Therefore we concluded that the active compounds of TNS have potential as therapeutic agents in functional food or supplemental treatment to improve diabetic diseases.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.59-68
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• 1993

Change in microbial numbers during experimental composting has been investigated. The results show that bacteria and actinomycetes play an important role in decomposing the composting material. The number of bacteria has no relation to the efficiency of composting, though it greatly correlates to the decomposition ratio. Bacterial growth activity that shows potential of bacterial growth was originally proposed. The influence of pH and the decomposition ratio on the growth activity has been studied. It was clarified that the bacterial growth activity is useful in evaluating the efficiency of composting and the maturity of produced compost.