• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.466-471
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• 2012

'Usul' is a traditional medicinal herb, which has anti-inflammatory activities is distributed in India, Nepal, China, Korea, Japan. Korea pharmacopeia listed 'Usul' as either a species of Achyranthes japonica (Miq.) Nakai or A. bidentata Blume. Recent taxonomic studies in China and Japan delimited these taxa as two varieties, A. bidentata Blume var. bidentata and var. japonica Miq. A multivariate morphometric study of Achyranthes bidentata complex was undertaken to assess the entities of taxa that usefully could be recognized. Five quantitative characters were reviewed and analyzed with 293 specimens from Korea. The univariate analysis of inflorescence length, interval between florets, angle between floret and floral axis indicated that ranges among all taxa were continuous. However, quantitative characters of membrane size and the number of hairs within 4 were useful to identify two varieties. In PCA, the first three principal components accounted for 89.4% of the total variance. PCA revealed that var. bidentata showed distinctions in morphological attributes from var. japonica entity. Therefore, continued recognition at the infraspecifc level for these taxa is supported.

• 한국약용작물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.333-334
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• 2012

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.77-82
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• 2005

Objectives : A morphological classification among Achyranthes japonica Nakai (produced in Korea), A. bidentata Blume (imported from China), and Cyathula officinalis Kuan (used in China exclusively) was made through microscopic observation. Method : The slice of the tested material made by paraffin section technique was colored with Safranine Malachite Green contrast methods, and then observed and photographed by olymphus-BHT. Result : 1. Korean A. japonica Nakai has slim roots, whose diameter is $1{\sim}5\;mm$. 1) Most of its intersection is stele, which includes a lot of vascular bundles. The inside of vascular bundles shows the arrangement of $2{\sim}4$ cycles, the innermost wheel of which is divided into two parts. 2) Parts of parenchymatous cell include Crystal sand of calcium oxalate. 2. The diameter of the roots of Chinese A. bidentata Blume is $0.4{\sim}1\;cm$. 1) The xylem in the vascular bundle in the middle of its intersection is rather big, around which the inner parts of the vascular bundles are arranged in the shape of $2{\sim}4$ cycles around. The most outside part of it is small, and the middle part is gathered into $2{\sim}3$ groups. 2) Parts of parenchymatous cells include Crystal sand of calcium oxalate. 3. The roots of Chinese C. officinalis Kuan is thick, whose diameter is $0.5{\sim}3\;cm$. 1) Vascular bundle of its intersection is spotted, arranged in the shape of $4{\sim}11$ concentric circles, whose center is divided into $2{\sim}9$ groups. 2) Parenchymatous cells include crystal sand and square crystal of calcium oxalate. Conclusion : It is concluded that Achyranthes japonica Nakai, A. bidentata Blume, and C. officinalis Kuan have different shapes in both external forms and internal intersections, so that they can be easily distinguished from one another through microscopic observation.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.158-162
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• 2006

Achyranthes bidentata was recorded to new medicinal crop in a revised 8th edition of the Korean pharmacopoeia. Therefore, A. bidentata began to use for same purpose with Achyranthes japonica which was cultivated since old times in Korea. This study was conducted to investigate the adaptability of A. bidentata in Korea. The germination rate and speed of A. bidentata seeds were higher than those of A. japonica in $15^{\circ}C\;and\;25^{\circ}C$. The growth of A. bidentata was greater than that of A. japonica until the 60 days after transplanting, but growth after that was the opposite. There were remarkable differences between two species in growth characteristics such as flowering date, leaf fall date, plant height, stem color and no. of branches. The flowering and leaf fall date of A. bidentata were earlier than A. japonica by July 7 and September 26. The plant height and number of branches of A.japonica were longer and more than A. bidentata, but the cluster length and no. of flowers per cluster of that were shorter and fewer than this. Number of supporting roots of A. bidentata and A. japonica was 10.7 and 14.6 per plant, respectively. The average yield was not different between two species. The yield of A. bidentata was 166 kg/l0 a in Suwon and 309 kg/10 a in Naju of Korea. The suitable cultivation region of A. bidentata was judged to southern area of Korea.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2015

Osteoporosis induces a bone mineral density loss due to imbalance of bone homeostasis that is achieved by osteoclasts (which are involved in bone resorption) and osteoblasts (which are involved in bone formation). Thus, this study was performed to evaluate the effects of hot water extract of the Achyranthes bidentata Blume (ABB) and Panax ginseng (Gin) on osteoclast and osteoblast differentiation. In this study, there was no cytotoxicity by ABB, 50 and $100{\mu}g/ml$ of Gin significantly decreased cell viability of RANKL-induced osteoclast in RAW264.7 cell (p < 0.01). But, it was $50{\mu}g/ml$ of ABB and Gin mixtures increased due to protective action of ABB. Furthermore, Gin contained groups (Gin, ABB and Gin mixtures) were inhibitory effects on osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption, and increased in osteoblast differentiation activity. Gin clearly inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation by decreased calcitonin and TRAP (p < 0.01). Also, these extracts significantly increased calcium accumulation formation of osteoblastic differentiation reagents-induced osteoblast in MC3T3-E1 cell (p < 0.05). These results suggest that ABB and Gin mixtures may be a potential as drug for the treatment of osteoporosis.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.416-424
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• 2013

In the course of a study for the development of functional foods utilizing Woosul (Achyranthis radix), the components and various biological activities of Korean Woosul (AJN: Achyranthes japonica Nakai) and Chinese Woosul (ABB: Achyranthes bidentata Blume) were compared. Woosul in Korea, including AJN and ABB, are regulated and part of the Korean Pharmacopoeia. From AJN and ABB, ethanol extracts and their subsequent organic solvent fractions were prepared and their in-vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-diabetes activities were evaluated. Although AJN and ABB have no clear distinction in terms of usage in Korea, our results suggest that AJN has higher quantities of lipid-soluble components and lower amounts of water-soluble sugars than does ABB. ABB also appears to possess greater amounts of flavonoid and polyphenol substances than AJN. Analyses of biological activities showed that the fractions of AJN were more active as antibacterial agents, and possessed more pronounced ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities than those of the ABB fractions. However, the antioxidant activities of the ABB fractions, as determined by DPPH anion-, ABTS cation-, nitrite-scavenging activity and reducing power, were higher than those of the AJN fractions. Our results suggest that the components and bioactivity of the extracts and subsequent fractions of AJN and ABB are different. Therefore, usage of either AJN or ABB should be carefully considered, as regards their individual properties, when the active fractions of Woosul are employed in the development of functional foods or novel plant-derived medicines.

• 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 Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.101 no.2
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• pp.185-194
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• 2012

The purpose of this contribution is to develop the framework of a methodology for identifying potential errors in georeferencing and in an application of it using specimens of Ox-Knee, Achyranthes bidentata Blume in Korea. At infraspecific level, uncertainty of identification showed that 41% of A. bidentata var. japonica and 28% of var. bidentata were misidentified, suggesting that the uncertainty level was independent of the reliability of experts' identification. For georeference specimen records, 71 specimens out of total 303 were selected and utilized as occurrence data: Uncertainty was 32.4 km at maximum and was 0.1297 km at minimum (mean = 4,055 m, s.d. = 5,772 m). Var. japonica is common throughout most of the southeastern Korea and west coastal areas, while var. bidentata has been found as far north as Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces. We modelled the potential distribution of two varieties using Bioclim approach in Korea based on several environmental factors. Our results indicated the most important region for var. japonica lies the west coast ranges and southern area, while for Chungcheongnam-do of potential high diversity occurs for var. bidentata. This study shows that the major factors to determine the distribution patterns of two varieties were thermal factors, rather than precipitation. The Bioclim model using geocode and georeferencing data makes the information increasingly useful and reliable. To improve data quality, it requires full management from data collection to final databases including data cleaning.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 1974

Although several kinds of repellents or attractants have been used for mounting accelerators in the silkworm. Bembyx mori, more effective reagents still have not been developed. The authors developed a mounting accelerator with medical herb (Achyranthes bidentata Blume) and glutamic acid, an indispensable amino acid of silkworm, and experimented it's effects in both periods of spring and fall in 1972-1973. It was obtained that the mounting accelerator newly developed by authors shortened the economic periods by a half day, and did not have an bad effect on cocoon quality.