• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.280-287
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• 2015

Probiotics are microbial food supplements or components of bacteria which have traditionally been added to dairy foods for extra health boost. Our aim was to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of Bifidobacterium adolescentis SPM0212 as probiotics, which we previously found has potential anti-hepatitis B virus activity. The study was conducted using Wistar albino rats and probiotics were treated orally for 9 days consecutively and acute liver injury was induced by administration of carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$) on the 7th and 8th days. Liver damage was assessed by quantifying serum activities of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), as well as by histopathological examination. B. adolescentis SPM0212 significantly prevented the elevation of SGOT and SGPT levels, and reduced the negative effect of $CCl_4$ on body and organ weights. Histopathological study revealed the livers of the carbon tetrachloride treated rats showed almost complete loss of normal hepatocyte architecture, but that rats treated with B. adolescentis SPM0212 showed minimal damage and normal hepatocyte architecture. Our results suggest that B. adolescentis SPM0212 be considered useful probiotics for protecting the liver from xenobiotics and hepatitis B virus, and as well as useful as a functional food for maintaining human health.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2015

Increased harmful algal blooms by cyanobacteria are threatening public health and limiting human activities related with freshwater ecosystems. Phosphorus (P) has long been suggested as a critical nutrient for cyanobacterial bloom through field research in Canada during the 1970s, proposing a P-based freshwater management guideline. However, recently, nitrogen (N) has also been highlighted as an impacting nutrient on cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs). Due to the intensive and frequent observation of Microcystis, this kind of paradigm shift from P limitation to season-dependent N or P limitation has an important implication for a dual nutrient management strategy in eutrophic freshwaters. Through recent international researches, general strategies to control CyanoHABs in lakes and reservoirs are as follows: a dual nutrient (N & P) reduction, wastewater collection and treatment, pre-treatment of influent water in buffer zones, dredging of sediment, reduction of residence time, algal collection, and precipitation and flocculation of cyanobacteria. In addition, sustainable and integrative freshwater algae management should be carried out, based on the ecological aspect, because cyanobacteria are not the target organism to be eradicated, but an essential microbial member in the freshwater ecosystem.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.273-276
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• 2009

We investigated eight active natural antimicrobials for preservation of functional beverages that are usually degraded by yeasts rather than by bacteria due to a high sugar content and a low pH. Five strains of yeasts (S. cerevisiae, Z. bailii, P. membranaefaciens, C. albicans, and P Anomala) were tested with eight natural antimicrobial agents ($\varepsilon$-polylysine, yucca extract, vitamin $B_1$ derivative, scutellaria baicalensis extract, chitooligosaccharid, allyl isothiocyanate, sucrose-fatty acid ester, and oligosaccharide). The lowest minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were 10 ppm for oligosaccharide and sucrose-fatty acid ester against S. cerevisiae and Z. bailii, 10 ppm for allyl isothiocynate against P. membranaefaciens and C. albican, and 10 ppm for allyl isothiocynate and oligosaccharide against P. anomala. No growth were observed for five kinds of yeasts in functional beverages containing sodium benzonate at concentration of 0.015% or higher. The resistance of S. cerevisiae, Z. bailii, and P. Anomala against natural antimicrobial agents was lower than those of P. membranaefaciens and C. albican. Allyl isothiocyanate, oligosaccharide, and sucrose-fatty acid ester showed the highest antimicrobial activities among the eight tested antimicrobials. These results can be applied to develop new natural antimicrobial agents to improve microbial quality of functional beverages.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.195-200
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• 2008

Saxifraga stolonifera (Saxifragaceae) is a perennial herbaceous plant growing in Korea, China, Japan and Russia. The aerial part has been used as herbal medicine for treatment of pneumonia, frostbite, inflammation and microbial infection. In this study, fresh juice and methanol extract were prepared from the aerial part of S. stolonifera, and their antimicrobial, antithrombin, and antioxidant activity were evaluated, respectively. The fresh juice showed weak antimicrobial activity against Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Candida albicans with ignorable DPPH scavenging activity. But, the methanol extract showed strong antioxidant activity ($IC_{50}$ of $37.5{\mu}g/mL$) with minor, broad-range antimicrobial activity. Antithrombin activities were not observed in fresh juice and extract, up to 1.5 mg/mL. Sequential organic solvent fractionation of methanol extract showed that $IC_{50}s$ of ethylacetate and the butanol fraction were 6.9 and $7.8{\mu}g/mL$, respectively, that is comparable with vitamin C or butylated hydroxytoluene. Analysis of component in extract and fractionates suggested that the antioxidants in fractions are diverse and the active substances have glycosylated phenolic structure. Our results suggest that the aerial part of S. stolonifera could be used as the natural source of potential antioxidant.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.2 s.75
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• pp.310-314
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• 2006

Allium fistulosum L. (Welsh onion) is a perennial herb that is widely cultivated throughout the world, especially in China, Japan and Korea. Although, various activities were reported, little is known about antimicrobial activity of A. fistulosum L.. In this study, strong antimicrobial substances, fistuloside A, B, and C were isolated from the edible parts of A. fistulosum L. and their antimicrobial activity was evaluated with pathogenic- or food-spoilage microorganism based on disk-diffusion assay, minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) determination. Fistuloside A and fistuloside C showed strong antifungal activity and anti-Proteus activity, while fistuloside B is effective to only fungi. The fistuloside C showed a prominent antifungal activity with $3.1{\sim}6.2{\mu}g/ml$ of MIC and MFC. Our results indicated that fistuloside C has a prominent antifungal activity and support the use of A. fistulosum to treat microbial infection.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2009

Essential oils are mixture of volatile, lipophilic compounds originating from plants. Essential oils have potential biological effects, i.e., antibacterial, antifungal, spasmolytic and antiplasmodial activities and insect-repellent property. In this study, five essential oils, namely R, LG, FR, O, and NM, extracted from various aromatic plants were used to test their antimicrobial activity against the oral microorganisms. The effects of essential oils were investigated against eight important bacteria, Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Streptococcus sanguis (S. sanguis), Streptococcus anginosus (S. anginosus), Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (A. actinomycetemcomitans), Streptococcus sobrinus (S. sobrinus), Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis), and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Essential oils, except NM, effectively inhibited the growth of tested oral pathogenic microorganisms dose-dependently. However, the essential oils didn't show a significant inhibitory effect against E. coli and S. epidermidis. Consequently, these results represented that essential oil-mediated anti-microbial activity was prominent against the oral pathogenic bacteria. For example, minimum bactericidal concentration(MBC) of R, LG, FR oil against A. actinomycetemcomitans was very low as 0.078 mg/mL. In addition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of R, LG, FR, O oil against S. mutans was low as 0.156 mg/mL in vitro.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.820-825
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• 2010

The functional food components from various Basidiomycota were investigated to improve human intestinal microflora, especially associated with obesity. EtOH extract from Gyrophora esculenta fruit body and Coriolus versicolor judae mycelia showed antimicrobial activities on Eubacterium limosum, Clostridium perfrigens, Clostridium paraputrificum, Clostridium difficile and Clostridium ramosum, and on Bacteroides fragilis, respectively. Although the 80% EtOH extract from G. esculenta fruit body and hot-water extract from C. versicolor judae mycelia did not reduce weight of the rats in the high fat diet, these extracts showed stability at high temperatures and at wide pH ranges. In the rat group of feeding 80% EtOH extract from G. esculanta fruit body, Bifidobacterium spp. were increased and Clostridium spp. and Eubacterium spp. were decreased compared to the high fat feeding group. Also sensory evaluation was carried out for the development of prototype drink product. These results demonstrated the possibilities of C. versicolor judae and G. esculenta as a functional food components to control intestinal microbial flora.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 2011

This study was conducted to provide information for improving the quality characteristics of Buckwheat Soksungjang (BWS). We determined aminotype nitrogen content, total microbial flora counts, the population of Bacillus cereus, presence of volatile compounds, fibrinolytic activity, antioxidant activity, ACE inhibition rate, and a sensory evaluation. The aminotype nitrogen increased gradually during fermentation. We found a decreasing population of B. cereus during fermentation, thus, the edible period for BWS was more than 30 days after fermentation. Acetaldehyde, butanol, and pyrazine were detected as volatile compounds after fermentation. The fibrinolytic activities of a 10% BWS water extract were high at 120.8 units compared to the control (71.6 units). In a sensory evaluation, Soksungjang with 60% added BW showed a significantly higher score (p < 0.001) for color, taste, smell, texture, and overall. The results suggest that a new type of shortened fermented soybean paste had good safety, bioactivities, and sensory characteristics within 4 weeks.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.381-389
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the appearance, physicochemical, physical, and fermentation properties of the fermented soybean produced by manufacturing with inoculation the different types of microbial strains. The strains were inoculated by the NSI (natural strains inoculation), and the SSI (selective strain inoculation) were treatments. The appearance showed differences in color, viscous substance, and hardness depending on strains inoculation and fermentation duration. The pH, and total acidity were 6.40~7.26%, and 0.10~0.39% respectively with differences depending on the samples. The moisture content as the fermentation duration increased, the NSI (56.03~57.66%) decreased and the SSI (56.71~58.63%) increased. The physical characteristics of the hardness increased as the fermentation duration increased for the NSI and the SSI decreased. The color values for the L, a, and b values were 47.64~58.56, 7.15~9.08, and 12.41~17.30, respectively. The α-amylase and protease activities of the SSI were the highest among all treatments. The total viable cell counts of the fermented soybean products by strains were 5.02 to 9.77 log CFU/g, and SSI (fermentation, 48 hours) was the highest. The amino-type nitrogen contents of all samples were 301.62~746.97 mg% and the SSI showed the highest content. The amino acid had the highest glutamic acid content.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.208-215
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• 2005

This study was accomplished in order to collect fundamental data on microbial roles in recycling process of reed rhizosphere. Sunchon bay, which is considered as one of the marsh and mud environments severely affected by human activities such agriculture and fisheries, was selected as a model place. In our initial efforts, two bacterial consortia were obtained by enrichment culture using PAH mixtures containing anthracene, naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene as the sources of carbon and energy, and four pure bacteria capable of rapid degradation of PAH were isolated from them. Four strains designated as SCB1, SCB2, SCB6, and SCB7 revealed by morphological, physiological and molecular analyses were identified as Burkholderia anthina, Alcaligenes sp., Achromobacter xylosoxidans., and Pseudomonas putida, respectively with over $99{\%}$ confidence. Notably, Burkholderia anthina SCB1 and Alcaligenes sp. SCB2 were found to utilize anthracene and pyrene more quickly than naphthalene and phenanthrene, whereas Achromobacter xylosoxidans SCB6 and Pseudomonas putida SCB7 exhibited similar growth and degradation patterns except for pyrene. These facts suggest that the rhizosphere microorganisms capable of PAH degradation might be used to clean up the contamination sites with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.