• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.695-700
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the anti-oxidant and anti-microbial activity of syringin isolated from Cortex Fraxini to investigate their potential for use as safe natural compounds. Purified syringin was dissolved in distilled water for each concentration and used in each experiment. Syringin showed higher 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging than butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) at a concentration of 50 ㎍/ml. In 2,2'-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging, activity was similar to that of BHT at all concentrations. In antioxidant protection factor measurement, activity of syringin slightly increased as the concentration increased, as did the inhibitory effect of thiobarbutric acid reactive substances. In evaluating anti-microbial activity, the clear zones of Listeria monocytogenes KCTC 13064, Staphylococcus aureus KCTC 1916, Escherichia coli KCTC 2571, and Helicobacter pylori HPKCTC B0150 at a concentration of 200 ㎍/ml were found to be 17.8 mm, 20.45 mm, 17.05 mm, and 16.8 mm, respectively, but no clear zone was observed in the case of Candida albicans ATCC 10231. The activity against water-soluble antioxidants was therefore superior to that against lipid-soluble antioxidants. Anti-microbial activity was examined by inhibiting growth against gram-positive and -negative strains, and anti-fungal activity was not observed. Based on the results of this study, syringin has possible applications as a natural anti-oxidant and anti-microbial material.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.276-284
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• 2008

A lactic acid bacterium having antifungal activity was isolated from kimchi. It was identified as Lactobacillus plantarum based on its morphological and biochemical properties, and 16S rRNA sequence, and designated as Lb. plantarum AF1. This isolate inhibited the growth of Aspergillus flavus ATCC 22546, A. fumigatus ATCC 96918, A. petrakii PF-1, A. ochraceus PF-2, A. nidulans PF-3, Epicoccum nigrum KF-1, and Cladosporium gossypiicola KF-2 under a dual culture overlay assay. Also, the antimicrobial activity was found to be active against various species of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The antifungal activity was found to be stable after heat ($121^{\circ}C$, 15 min) and proteolytic enzyme treatment, but it was unstable over pH 5.0. The antifungal compound(s) was estimated to have a low molecular mass (below 3,000 Da).

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.655-663
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• 2014

Woosul (Achyranthis radix), a widely used material in food and oriental medicinal industry, has different origins of plant species in Korea, Japan and China. In Korea, woosul is designated as the radix of Achyranthes japonica Nakai (AJN) and Achyranthes bidentata Blume (ABB) in the regulation of The Korean Pharmacopoeia. However, the comparative study of hot water (HW) extracts between AJN and ABB is still rudimentary. In this study, HW extracts and its subsequent organic solvent fractions of AJB and ABB were prepared, and their in-vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-diabetes activities were evaluated. The HW extract of ABB has higher sugars and polyphenol compounds, and higher lightness and lower yellowness compared than those of AJN. Analysis of biological activities showed that the ethylacetate (EA) fraction of AJN and n-hexane fraction of ABB have antibacterial activities, and the EA fractions of AJN and ABB has strong antioxidation activities determined by radical scavenging activity and reducing power. In anti-diabetes activity assay, the EA fractions of AJN and ABB showed ${\alpha}$-amylase inhibitory activities, while the butanol fractions of AJN and ABB showed ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Our results suggest that the HW extracts of AJB and ABB have different components and extraction yields, and their subsequent fractions have different biological activity. Therefore it was concluded that the EA fraction of AJN is appropriate to develop as natural medicine, and the HW extract of AJN is suitable to woosul-tea or woosul-sikhye production.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.612-620
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• 2012

This study was performed to investigate the 4-week repeated-dose toxicity of $Lactobacillus$ $plantarum$ AF1 ($Lb.$ $plantarum$ AF1), a lactic acid bacteria isolated from kimchi, in male and female rats. Sprague-Dawley male and female rats were divided into four groups, with 10 animals in each group. The test article was administered once daily by gavage to rats at dosage levels of 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g/kg/day for 4-weeks. There were no test articlerelated deaths or abnormal clinical signs in either gender of rat during the observation period. Furthermore, no differences were found between the control and treatment groups in terms of body weight changes, food intake, and water consumptions. Hematological parameters, serum biochemical analysis, and any other findings also showed no significant or dose-dependent alterations. There were no alterations in organ weights upon administration of $Lb.$ $plantarum$ AF1. These results suggest that there were no adverse effects of oral application of $Lb.$ $plantarum$ AF1 up to a dosage level of 2.0 g/kg in both male and female rats.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.333-344
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• 2018

Selection of the optimal culture medium and evaluation of the antimicrobial activity against various phytopathogens were performed for four entomopathogenic fungal isolates with excellent insecticidal and antimicrobial activity against the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae), green peach aphid (Myzus persicae), and gray mold (Botrytis cinerea). The optimal medium was selected by measuring the amount of blastospore production and the antifungal activity of the culture medium. On the basis of these experiments, GY medium was selected for Beauveria bassiana 2R-3-3-1 and Metarhizium anisopliae 4-2, SD3, and PDB medium for B. bassiana SD15. The antimicrobial activity test against other phytopathogens indicated that all four isolates showed high antifungal activities against Colletotrichum acutatum and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. However, for Phytophthora capsici and C. fructicola, only M. anisopliae SD3 showed a high antifungal activity against P. capsici, and the other three isolates had little activity. Antibacterial activity against Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis was high in two isolates of M. anisopliae but not in two isolates of B. bassiana. Thus, it was confirmed that entomopathogenic fungi effective for pest control could be effectively used as a control agent for various plant diseases.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2009

Yam (Dioscorea batatas Decne) has been recognized as healthy food due to its various biological activities, such as anti-obesity, anti-constipation, anti-proliferation, anti-mutagenic activity, and decrease of blood glucose and cholesterol level. In this study, the methanol extract and its organic solvent fractions were prepared from dried Dioscorea batatas Decne, and their antimicrobial, antithrombin, and antioxidant activity were evaluated, respectively. The 66.7% of methanol extract was fractioned into water residue, and most of total-polyphenol/total-flavonoids were found in ethylacetate fraction. This ethylacetate fraction at $500\;{\mu}g/disc$ concentration showed strong antibacterial activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, except Staphylococcus aureus. Antifungal activity was not observed in methanol extract and its fractions. But, strong antithrombin activity was found in methanol extract. At 4.8 mg/mL concentration, thrombin time was 99.5 sec, which is coincides with 30% activity of aspirin, a commercial available antithrombosis agent. The ethylacetate fraction showed strong DPPH scavenging activity ($IC_{50}$ of $80.5\;{\mu}g/mL$), compared to vitamin C ($IC_{50}$ of $15.2\;{\mu}g/mL$). Also, the ethylacetate fraction showed strong SOD-like activity and reducing power, which are coincide with 43% of vitamin C and 82.7% of butylated hydroxytoluene activity, respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.146-152
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• 2011

In the course of a study in relation to the production of taste, and functional enhancements in root crop chips, which were prepared by soaking dried yam slices in fruit juices, we investigated the physiological characteristics and biological activities of 8 different commercially available juices including; apple, omija (fruit of Maximowiczia typica), grape, wild grape, orange, tomato, red ginseng and black garlic juice. The average water contents, pH, brix and acidity of the juices used were $85.59{\pm}5.80%$, $3.90{\pm}0.64$, $12.19{\pm}4.70%$, and $0.49{\pm}0.19%$, respectively. The polyphenol content of black garlic and grape juice were 1.50 and 1.21 mg/ml, respectively, and those were higher than the average content (0.57 mg/mL) of the juices. Evaluation of anticoagulation activity showed that only omija juice has a strong thrombin inhibition, which is comparable to that of aspirin (1.5 mg/mL). Omija, grape and orange juice all exhibited antibacterial activity, but no antifungal activity. The 8 different juices, and in particular grape and black garlic juice, showed strong antioxidant activity in DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity assays, with wild grape juice demonstrating potent nitrite scavenging activity. These results suggest that omija, grape and black garlic juice can be used as soaking solutions to produce taste, and other functional enhancements, for root crop chips.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1245-1250
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• 2009

Beimu (Fritillaria thunbergii Miquel), a bulbous plant of Liliaceae found in Korea, Japan and China, has been used as an antitussive and expectorant agent, and is also useful in alleviating stonsillitis and bronchiolitis. Most researches have been focused on micro-propagation and plant regeneration, component analysis, and dormancy relieving of beimu. Reports regarding the biological activity of beimu, such as anti-Helicobacter pyroli or platelet aggregation inhibition activity, are few and not widely available. In this study, methanol extract and its organic solvent fractions were prepared from Fritillaria thunbergii Miquel and their antimicrobial, antithrombin, and antioxidant activities were evaluated, respectively. The methanol extract contained lots of water-soluble materials (58.98%) and hexane-soluble oils (14.85%). The ethylacetate and butanol fraction at $500{\mu}g$/disc concentration showed strong antibacterial activity against tested bacteria, except Escherichia coli. Antifungal activity was not observed in methanol extract and its fractions. The hexane, ethylacetate and butanol fractions showed strong antithrombin activity at 4.8 mg/ml concentration. Especially, the ethylacetate fraction showed 95.4 sec of thrombin time at a concentration of 1.2 mg/ml, which is comparable to aspirin, a widely used antithrombosis agent. For antioxidation activity, the ethylacetate and butanol fraction showed good 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl scavenging activity ($IC_{50}$ of $344{\sim}368{\mu}g$/ml). In superoxide dismutase-like activity and reducing power, the fractions showed $20{\sim}25%$ of vitamin C, and $51{\sim}54%$ of butyl hydroxytoluene, respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.285-292
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• 2014

In the course of study for development of functional food ingredients from aged black garlic (ABG), heat-treated ripe bulbs of Allium sativum L., the water extracts from raw-garlic (RG) and ABG, and the subsequent organic solvent fractions of ABG were prepared, and their antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antithrombosis activities were compared. The extraction yield of ABG was 4-folds higher than that of RG, and the contents of total polyphenol, total flavonoid, total sugar and reducing sugar in the ABG extract were 4-folds, 1.56-folds, 3.36-folds and 6.75-folds higher than those of the RG extract, respectively. In antioxidation activity assay, the extract of ABG showed minor scavenging activity against DPPH anion, but revealed strong scavenging activity against ABTS cation and nitrite. Especially, the ethylacetate fraction from the ABG extract demonstrated stronger antioxidation activity than the RG extract and other fractions. Although the antimicrobial and antithrombosis activities of the RG extract did not appear in the ABG extract, the ethylacetate fraction from the ABG extract had antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, and strong antithrombosis activity via the inhibition of prothrombin, blood coagulation factors and platelet aggregation. All extracts and fractions did not show any hemolytic activity against human red blood cells up to 5 mg/ml. Our results suggest that the ethylacetate fraction of ABG could be applicable to the development of functional food ingredients for antithrombosis agents.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.341-348
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• 2010

Antifungal and antibacterial activities of wood vinegars were investigated in this study in order to apply for the natural fungicides and food preservatives. The antifungal activities of wood vinegars were measured as a hyphal growth inhibition rate using four plant pathogenic, four wood rot and one mushroom pathogenic fungi. Inhibition effect on the fungi growth was explicitly observed at the concentrations higher than 0.5% of unrefined wood vinegar and higher than 1.0% of refined wood vinegar, respectively, suggesting that unrefined wood vinegars showed the higher antifungal activities than that of refined wood vinegars. The highest inhibition effect on the fungi growth was shown in Libertella betulina which is a mushroom pathogenic fungus. In addition, the wood vinegars from Pinus densiflora showed the higher antifungal activities against the plant pathogenic and wood rot fungi than that from Quercus spp.. On the other hand, the antibacterial activities of wood vinegars were determined by a paper disc method using the three gram positive and five gram negative bacteria. The unrefined wood vinegars showed a prominent effect on the suppression of bacteria growth at the concentration of 10%, while the suppression of bacteria growth was not observed in the refined wood vinegars. These results also suggest that the unrefined wood vinegars showed the higher antibacterial activities than the refined wood vinegars. The antibacterial activities of wood vinegars against gram positive bacteria were higher than those of wood vinegars against gram negative bacteria. From these results, it can be inferred that the wood vinegars has the strong antimicrobial activities and can be applied as the natural fungicides and food preservatives.