• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.52-63
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• 2020

Objectives: In this study, we investigated the effects of Pueraria lobata Ohwi flower extracts (PLFE) on macrophages and their underlying mechanism(s) of action. PLFE increased the production of NO and cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-𝛼) in a dose-dependent manner, indicating its immunostimulatory property. Furthermore, PLFE upregulated iNOS, COX-2, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling in RAW264.7 cells. Additionally, PLFE enhanced the phosphorylation of I𝜅B𝛼 and subsequent I𝜅B𝛼 degradation, thereby enabling the nuclear translocation of NF-𝜅B. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the immunostimulatory effects of PLFE are mediated by the nuclear translocation of the p65 subunit of NF-𝜅B and subsequent secretion of cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-𝛼), upregulation of iNOS and COX-2, and stimulation of MAPK signaling (JNK, ERK, and p38). Thus, PLFE may be a potential immunostimulatory therapeutic.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.165-175
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• 2014

A natural population of Adonis multiflora, a spring ephemeral herb growing in temperate deciduous forests, was studied to determine the seed production characteristics. Plant size, flowering time, and seed number were monitored from February 2009 to May 2011 in main growing season (i.e., from March through May). The biomass rates of the shoot and the root in the A. multiflora population were 22-24% and 76-78%, respectively, and the biomass of the root was proportional to that of the shoot. The flowering rate was 60% in the plants with 1 to 2 g of shoot biomass, and 100% in the plants with >2 g of shoot biomass. In the plants with root biomass between 4 and 6 g, the flowering rate was 43% and, in the plants with the root biomass over 8 g, it was 100%. The shoot biomass was a better predictor of the flower production probability than the root biomass. The number of flowers and seeds was closely correlated to shoot biomass at 1% significance level. The size of the plant that produced seed excessively instead of the shoot biomass in one year typically decreased in the next year and vice versa. The flowering time and its duration were closely related to the number of faithful seeds but not to that of total seeds. The number of faithful seeds was proportionate to flowering duration and inversely proportionate to flowering time (year day, YD). In a plant, the number of faithful seeds noticeably decreased with the inflorescence (i.e., order of flower in a plant), and this difference between the two successive flowers was significant at the 1% level between the first and the third flower in 2009 and 2011 but not between the third and the fourth. However, the number of total seeds was mostly similar in the first through the fourth flower for all three years.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.153-162
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• 2020

The root extracts of Paeonia lactiflora cv. 'Red Charm' has been studied by many groups, however, little attention has been paid to its flower petal. Paeonia is the genus in the Paeoniaceae family. 'Red Charm' Paeonia is a soft-stemmed herbaceous peony hybrid of P. officinalis and P. lactiflora. We previously showed the flower petal extract of Red Charm might have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, however, it was not clear which components might be involved in this activity. Bioinformatics analysis previously indicated these extracts have potential anti-oxidant materials. One of them is identified as paeoniflorin, which is major component in root extract of Red Charm. In this study, we compared paeoniflorin and oxypaeoniflorin using DPPH assays to measure its anti-oxidant activities. Oxypaeoniflorin showed higher levels of radical scavenging activity, similar to ascorbic acid control, whereas paeoniflorin did not. Furthermore, nitric oxide assay showed they have similar anti-inflammatory effects. Taken together, these results suggest oxypaeoniflorin may play a more important role in the anti-oxidant activity of the flower petal and root extracts of Red Charm, compared to paeoniflorin. Further studies may be able to provide a platform to develop potential dual effects therapeutics for oxidant-mediated and inflammation-mediated disease in the near future.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2017

In this study we surveyed the preferences of consumer packaging for mini pot flower plants to improve the flower market application in Korea. The surveys were consisted of the consumers residing in Seoul metropolitan (221), Gyeonsang (70), Jeonla (29), Chungceong (19), Gangwon (7), other provinces (3). A total of 349 eligible respondents (male 173, female 176) were surveyed with a self-administered questionnaire asking on the general characteristics for residents, packaging material, packaging design, type of flower pot, degree of transparency, convenience, consumer's demand for packaging development, a significant point when purchasing the flower pot product. The collected date was analyzed using a chi-square (${\chi}^2$) statistical test in SPSS program. Most residents prefer for mini pot flower plants packed with packaging characteristics of plastic material (56.4%), packaging design of separated type (76.2%), angled type (62.5%), and transparency (48.6%). The other question results showed that major consumer's demand for mini pot flower plants is maintaining the freshness quality and stability structure for them. Transparency of packaging can also affect directly the preferences for purchasing the mini pot flower plants. The packaging structure with a proper shape design may protect the fresh mini pot flower plants from shock or any other damage during distribution. The results of this study help to provide consumer's demand for packaging development and to give the greatest advantages in terms of production and marketability of mini pot flower plants.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.234-240
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• 2005

This study was conducted to identify cross compatibility with table grape and pollen characteristics by flower type in Vitis amurensis Rupr. (GW-22, GW-45, GW-56, GW-200, GW-202 and GW-300) collected in Gangwon area. Flower structure, germinability and morphology of pollen, and cross compatibility with table grape were examined. Flowers of GW-22 and GW-56 had an aborted gynoecium and five erect fdaments, and all of them was male. The percentage of pollen germination of GW-22 and GW-56 on the agar medium was 27.6-29.8%. Flowers of GW-45, GW-200, GW-202 and GW-300 had well-developed pistils and five stamens with curled filaments. The percentage of pollen germination of female plant on the agar medium was 0%. Pollen grail)s from GW-22 and GW-56 (male flower) have symmetrically distributed three furrows on their surface and each furrow contains a germ pore at the equatorial level (Tricolporated). GW-45, GW-200, GW202, and GW-300 (Female flower) produced pollen grains with no germinative structures (acolporated). In self-pollina-tion of female flowers, berries of clusters were no berry and no seed. Therefore, flower structure in V. amurensis proved to be that of other dioecious Vitis species. In cross combination of female and male flower of V. amurensis made normal seeds. In cross combination of table grape and V. amurensis of male flower made normal seeds. But, in cross combination of female flower of V. amurensis did not make seeds. Therefore, V. amurensis was cross compatible with vitis spp, and V. amurensis varieties may contribute to breeding studies of Vitis spp.

• FLOWER RESEARCH JOURNAL
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.238-244
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• 2011

The study was conducted in order to systematize specialization of flower decoration. The results of this study are summarized as follows. The research of image adjectives were analyzed into a total of 4 factors, which are texture, color, period, decoration. With regard to texture, the flower with the highest texture of 2.00 was white Zantedeschia aethiopica and that with the lowest texture of -1.90 was Leucospermum cordifolium. In regard of color, the flower with the highest color of 1.70 was Rosa 'Judy' and that with the lowest color of -2.40 was Gypsophila. With regard to period, the flower with the highest period of 2.00 was Gomphrena globosa and that of the lowest of -3.00 was Leucospermum cordifolium. In decoration, the flower with the highest decoration of 2.50 was Agapanthus 'Intermedia' and that with the lowest decoration of -2.00 was Heliconia bihai 'Lobster'. As for correlation among the factors, color and period were in a correlation with each other. It shows that color and period are the most important factors in flower decoration. In result of conjoint analysis, importance was high in order of color, texture, decoration and period. This suggests that consumers overemphasize color and texture in flower decoration and may fail to notice the importance of period.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.155-163
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• 2014

Adonis multiflora is a spring ephemeral herb growing in temperate deciduous forests. To determine the flowering properties of a natural population of A. multiflora, air temperature, flowering time, and flower-falling were monitored from February 2009 to May 2011. The A. multiflora population in this study started flowering in early March and ended it in mid-April. The average flowering duration of a flower was 14.4 days in 2009 and 19.6 days in 2011. The average duration of flower-falling was between 3.4 days and 4.2 days for three years. Cumulative flowering rate (CFR) was correlated with year day (YD), year day index (YDI), and Nuttonson's index (Tn), with correlation coefficients (CC) of over 0.9 at the 1% significance level; CC value between CFR and YD was the largest and that between CFR and YDI was the smallest. However, at the 5% significance level, CFR was closely related with Tn more than any other factors. The CCs between flowering times of two years in each plant were high and significant at 1% level. The YD value of flowering time of a flower was inversely related to its flowering duration significantly for three years. In a given plant, when more flowering started early, the flowering duration was longer. The first flower blossomed on 73.4 YD in 2010 and 78.9 YD in 2011, and remained for 16.7 days in 2009 and 27.4 days in 2011, respectively; the fifth flower developed on 92.5 YD in 2010 and 96.6 YD in 2011, and remained for 8.0 days in 2009 and 14.6 days in 2011. The YD differences between the flowering times of two flowers decreased in the order of inflorescence.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.18-30
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• 2022

Background: Bees and flowering plants associations were initially began during the early Cretaceous, 120 million years ago. This coexistence has led to a mutual relationship where the plant serves as food and in return, the bee help them their reproduction. Animals pollinate about 75% of food crops worldwide, with bees as the world's primary pollinator. In general, bees rely on flower scents to locate blooming flowers as visual clue is limited and also their host plants from a distance. In this review, an attempt is made to collect some relevant 107 published papers from three scientific databases, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science database, covering the period from 1959 to 2021. Results: Flowering plants are well documented to actively emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, only a few of them are important for eliciting behavioral responses in bees. In this review, fifty-three volatile organic compounds belonging to different class of compounds, mainly terpenoids, benzenoids, and volatile fatty acid derivatives, is compiled here from floral scents that are responsible for eliciting behavioral responses in bees. Bees generally use honest floral signals to locate their host plants with nectar and pollen-rich flowers. Thus, honest signaling mechanism plays a key role in maintaining mutualistic plant-pollinator associations. Conclusions: Considering the fact that floral scents are the primary attractants, understanding and identification of VOCs from floral scent in plant-pollinator networks are crucial to improve crop pollination. Interestingly, current advances in both VOCs scent gene identification and their biosynthetic pathways make it possible to manipulate particular VOCs in plant, and this eventually may lead to increase in crop productivity.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.117-123
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• 2018

This study was designed to determine the biological activities of Chionanthus retusus flower extracts. Water and 90% ethanol extracts of C. retusus flower were prepared. The inhibitory activities of water and ethanol extracts with a phenolic content of $200{\mu}g/mL$ against xanthine oxidase were 25.60% and 15.92%, respectively. Further, the water extract did not show any inhibitory activity against ${\alpha}$-glucosidase whereas the ethanol extract showed 100.00% inhibition of ${\alpha}$-glucosidase. The inhibitory activities of the extracts against tyrosinase were 17.27% (water extract) and 36.13% (ethanol extract), which suggest that the extracts may have a whitening effect. The water extract did not inhibit elastase activity but showed a collagenase-inhibitory activity of 20.21%. On the contrary, the ethanol extract showed 96.26% and 35.93% inhibition of collagenase and elastase, respectively. These findings suggest that the extracts may have an anti-wrinkle effect. Lastly, the extracts showed a hyaluronidase inhibitory activity of 36.96% (water extract) and 88.70% (ethanol extract), suggesting that they may have an anti-inflammatory effect. The results indicate that C. retusus flower extracts containing phenolic compounds can be used as functional resources because they have anti-gout, carbohydrate degradation-inhibitory, whitening, anti-wrinkle, and anti-inflammatory effects.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.739-745
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• 2011

The major objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidant activities of methanolic extracts from different parts (flower, leaf stem, and root) of Chrysanthemum zawadskii by employing various in-vitro assay systems. The extraction yields from the flower, leaf stem, and root were 18.347, 12.93, and 11.33-----, respectively. The total polyphenol content was highest in the flower (17.16 mg/100 g) and lowest in the root (11.33 mg/100 g). The antioxidant activities were raised within creasing amounts of extracts, and the extracts from the flower showed the highest effect on the superoxide anion radical scavenging, metal chelating on ferrous ions and reducing power. In addition, the leaf stem also showed good antioxidant activity in various systems. These results suggest that the methanolic extracts from the flower and leaf stem possess excellent antioxidant activities and may thus serve as potential sources of natural antioxidants.