• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.464-470
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• 2018

Background: Ginseng produced by hydroponics can be cultivated without using agricultural chemicals; thus, it can be used as a raw materials for functional foods, medicines, and cosmetics. This study aimed to determine the optimal harvesting time to obtain the highest levels of ginsenoside and ginseng, as this was not previously unknown. Methods and Results: One-year-old organic ginseng seedlings were transplanted and cultivated using hydroponics for 150 days in a venlo-type greenhouse, using ginseng nursery bed soil and a nutrient solution ($NO_3{^-}-N$; 6.165, P; 3.525, K; 5.625, Ca; 4.365, Mg; 5.085, S; $5.31mEq/{\ell}$). Ginsenoside content and fresh and dry weights were higher at 120 days after transplanting than at 30, 60, 90, and 150 days. Total ginsenoside content was 11.86 times higher in the leaf and stem than in the root at 120 days after transplanting. Ginsenosides F1, F2, F3, and F5 were detected in ginseng leaves and stems. These chemical compounds are known to be effective in altering skin properties, including whitening, anti-inflammation, and anti-aging. Conclusions: Optimal harvesting time for ginseng cultivated using hydroponics was 120 days after transplanting when the biomass and ginsenoside content were highest.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.445-454
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• 2020

Background: Culturing wild ginseng adventitious root using plant factory technology provides genetic safety and high productivity. This production technology is drawing attention in the fields of functional raw materials and product development. The cultivation method using elicitors is key technology for controlling biomass and increasing secondary metabolites. Methods and Results: Elicitor treatments using methyl jasmonate, pyruvic acid, squalene, β-sistosterol were performed to amplify total ginsenosides (Rb1, Rc, Rb2, Rb3, and Rd) of cultured wild ginseng adventitious root. Thereafter, fermentation and steaming processes were performed to convert total ginsenosides into minor molecular ginsenosides (Rg3, Rk1, and Rg5). The result indicated that methyl jasmonate minimizes the reduction in fresh weight of cultured wild ginseng adventitious root and maximizes total ginsenosides (sum of Rb1, Rc, Rb2, Rb3, and Rd). Ginsenoside conversion results showed a maximum degree of conversion of 131 mg/g. Conclusions: In this study, we demonstrated that the optimal elicitor treatment method increased the content of total ginsenosides, while the steaming and fermentation processing method increased the content of minor ginsenosides.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.66-75
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• 2021

Microalgae are unicellular microorganisms inhabiting various ecosystems of the world, including marine and freshwater systems and extreme environments. Only a few species have been actively used as food. Microalgae are attracting attention as a means of biological CO2 reduction because they play an important role in absorbing atmospheric CO2 through their rapid growth by photosynthesis in water. Besides, microalgae are considered to be an eco-friendly energy source because they can rapidly produce biomass containing a large quantum of lipids that can be converted into biodiesel. Several microalgae, such as Chlorella spp., Spirulina spp. and Haematococcus spp. have already been commercialized as functional health supplements because they contain diverse nutrients including proteins, vitamins, minerals, and functional substances such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), β-glucan, phycocyanin, astaxanthin, etc. Moreover, they have the potential to be used as food materials that can address the protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) which may occur in the future due to population growth. They can be added to various foods in the form of powder or liquid extract for enhancing the quality characteristics of the foods. In this review, we analyzed several microalgae which can be used as food additives and summarized their characteristics and functions that suggest the possibility of a role for microalgae as future food.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

Objectives : The heartwood of Sappan Lignum has been used since ancient times as an ingredient in folk medicines against anti-bacterial and anti-anemia purposes. Many bioactive constituents have been derived from this biomass such as chalcones and homoisoflavonoids. In the current investigation, the antioxidant and anti-diabetic properties using DPPH and $ABTS^+$ radicals scavenging, ${\alpha}-glucosidase$, and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) inhibition assays were evaluated by different extraction methods of Sappan Lignum. Methods : In our continuing investigation for bioactive natural ingredients, the antioxidant and ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ inhibitory properties of Sappan Lignum extracts were prepared from different extraction methods and the biological efficacies were investigated in vitro. The antioxidant properties were evaluated employing radical scavenging assays using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) ($ABTS^+$) radicals. In addition, the anti-diabetic effects of Sappan Lignum extracts were tested via ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ and AGEs formation inhibitory assay. The total phenolic contents were determined using a spectrophotometric method. Results : All the tested samples showed dose-dependent radical scavenging and ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ inhibitory activities. Among the tested extracts, the 80% methanolic extract of Sappan Lignum was showed the most potent activity with an $IC_{50}$ value of $82.3{\pm}1.7{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ against DPPH radical scavenging assay. While, $ABTS^+$ radical scavenging activity of 80% methanolic extract was higher than those of other extracts. Also, ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ inhibitory and AGEs formation effects of each extacts and total phenolic contents were evaluated. Conclusions : These results suggested that Sappan Lignum can be considered as a new effective source of natural antioxidant and anti-diabetic materials.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.1485-1495
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• 2022

The development of a yeast strain capable of fermenting mixed sugars efficiently is crucial for producing biofuels and value-added materials from cellulosic biomass. Previously, a mutant Pichia stipitis YN14 strain capable of co-fermenting xylose and cellobiose was developed through evolutionary engineering of the wild-type P. stipitis CBS6054 strain, which was incapable of co-fermenting xylose and cellobiose. In this study, through genomic and transcriptomic analyses, we sought to investigate the reasons for the improved sugar metabolic performance of the mutant YN14 strain in comparison with the parental CBS6054 strain. Unfortunately, comparative whole-genome sequencing (WGS) showed no mutation in any of the genes involved in the cellobiose metabolism between the two strains. However, comparative RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) revealed that the YN14 strain had 101.2 times and 5.9 times higher expression levels of HXT2.3 and BGL2 genes involved in cellobiose metabolism, and 6.9 times and 75.9 times lower expression levels of COX17 and SOD2.2 genes involved in respiration, respectively, compared with the CBS6054 strain. This may explain how the YN14 strain enhanced cellobiose metabolic performance and shifted the direction of cellobiose metabolic flux from respiration to fermentation in the presence of cellobiose compared with the CBS6054 strain.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.640-648
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the inhibitory effect of heavy metals [Cd(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II)] on the growth of Rhodobacter species (Rhodobacter blasticus, Rhodobacter sphaeroides, and Rhodobacter capsulatus) and their potential use for Cd(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) bioremoval from liquid media. The presence of toxic heavy metals prolonged the lag phase in growth and reduced biomass growth for all three Rhodobacter species at concentrations of Cd, Ni, and Zn above 10 mg/L. However, all three Rhodobacter species also had a relatively high specific growth rate against each toxic heavy metal stress test for concentrations below 20 mg/L and possessed a potential bioaccumulation ability. The removal efficiency by all strains was highest for Cd(II), followed by Ni(II), and lowest for Zn(II), with the removal efficiency of Cd(II) by Rhodobacter species being 66% or more. Among the three strains, R. blasticus showed a higher removal efficiency of Cd(II) and Ni(II) than R. capsulatus and R. sphaeroides. Results also suggest that the bio-removal processes of toxic heavy metal ions by Rhodobacter species involve both bioaccumulation (intracellular uptake) and biosorption (surface binding).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.1017-1028
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• 2024

Lignocellulolytic enzymes play a crucial role in efficiently converting lignocellulose into valuable platform molecules in various industries. However, they are limited by their production yields, costs, and stability. Consequently, their production by producers adapted to local environments and the choice of low-cost raw materials can address these limitations. Due to the large amounts of olive stones (OS) generated in Morocco which are still undervalued, Penicillium crustosum, Fusarium nygamai, Trichoderma capillare, and Aspergillus calidoustus, are cultivated under different fermentation techniques using this by-product as a local lignocellulosic substrate. Based on a multilevel factorial design, their potential to produce lignocellulolytic enzymes during 15 days of dark incubation was evaluated. The results revealed that P. crustosum expressed a maximum total cellulase activity of 10.9 IU/ml under sequential fermentation (SF) and 3.6 IU/ml of β-glucosidase activity under submerged fermentation (SmF). F. nygamai recorded the best laccase activity of 9 IU/ml under solid-state fermentation (SSF). Unlike T. capillare, SF was the inducive culture for the former activity with 7.6 IU/ml. A. calidoustus produced, respectively, 1,009 ㎍/ml of proteins and 11.5 IU/ml of endoglucanase activity as the best results achieved. Optimum cellulase production took place after the 5th day under SF, while ligninases occurred between the 9th and the 11th days under SSF. This study reports for the first time the lignocellulolytic activities of F. nygamai and A. calidoustus. Furthermore, it underlines the potential of the four fungi as biomass decomposers for environmentally-friendly applications, emphasizing the efficiency of OS as an inducing substrate for enzyme production.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.9 s.89
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• pp.1284-1289
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• 2007

The Biological Activated Carbon (BAC) process in the water treatments represents a kind of biofiltration process which capabilities of bacteria to remove organic matters are maximized. It enables to eliminate organic matters and effectively reduce microbial regrowth potentials. As attached bacteria employ natural organic matter as a substrate, they are significantly dependent on indigenous microorganisms. In this study, characteristics of bacterial community by culturable and unculturable Methods have been conducted in a pilot plant using SAC in water treatment process at the downstream of the Nakdong River. Based on the results, HPC and bacterial- production for coal-based activated carbon material were $1.20{\sim}56.2{\times}l0^7$ cfu/g and $1.2{\sim}3.7\;mgC/m^{3}h$, respectively, in the SAC process. The highest level of attached bacteria biomass and organic carbon removal efficiency was found in the coal-based activated carbon. The genera Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium, Alcaligenes, Acilzetobacter, and Spingomonas were identified for each activated carbon material. Pseudomonas vesicularis was the dominant species in the coconut- and coal-based materials, where as Pseudomonas cepacia was the dominant species in the wood-based material. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) observation of the activated carbon surface also found the widespread distribution of rod form and coccus. The community of attached bacteria was investigated by performing Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis. a group was dominant in coal, wood and coccunt-based materials, ${\alpha},\;{\beta}\;and\;{\gamma}$ group ranged from 27.0 ${\sim}$ 43.0%, 7.1 ${\sim}$ 22.0%, 11.3 ${\sim}$ 28.6%, respectively. These results suggest that a group bacterial community appears to be regulated removal efficiency of organic material in water treatment process.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.58-72
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• 2009

In this study, the organic matter and biomass was characterized by using respirometry based on ASM No.2d (Activated Sludge Model No.2d). The activated sludge models are based on the ASM No.2d model, published by the IAWQ(International Association on Water Quality) task group on mathematical modeling for design and operation of biological wastewater treatment processes. For this study, OUR(Oxygen Uptake Rate) measurements were made on filtered as well as non-filtered wastewater. Also, GC-FID and LC analysis were applied for the estimation of VFAs(Volatile Fatty Acids) COD(S_A) in slowly bio-degradable soluble substrates of the ASM No.2d. Therefore, this study was intended to clearly identify slowly bio-degradable dissolved materials(S_S) and particulate materials(X_I). In addition, a method capable of determining the accurate time to measure non-biodegradable COD(S_I), by the change of transition graphs in the process of measuring microbial OUR, was presented in this study. Influent fractionation is a critical step in the model calibrations. From the results of respirometry on filtered wastewater, the fraction of fermentable and readily biodegradable organic matter(S_F), fermentation products(S_A), inert soluble matter(S_I), slowly biodegradable matter(X_S) and inert particular matter(X_I) was 33.2%, 14.1%, 6.9%, 34.7%, 5.8%, respectively. The active heterotrophic biomass fraction(X_H) was about 5.3%.