• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.206-213
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• 2010

In this study, the antibacterial activities of essential oil from Zanthoxylum schinifolium against four Gram-positive bacteria and six Gram-negative bacteria were investigated. The antibacterial activity of the oils was determined using the agar-well diffusion assay, MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) and MBC (minimum bactericidal concentration). In particular, essential oil from Z. schinifolium showed higher antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria than against Gram-negative bacteria. Essential oil from Z. schinifolium displayed large inhibition zones especially against Bacillus cereus (31 mm). At concentrations between 0 and $20\;{\mu}g/mL$ the oils showed an antibacterial effect against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values against nine bacteria ranged from 1.25 to $5\;{\mu}g/mL$. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values against eight bacterial ranged from 2.5 to $20\;{\mu}g/mL$, except Shigella sonnei. Furthermore, our finding on the antibacterial activities of essential oils from Zanthoxylum schinifolium validated the use of this plant for medical purposes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.515-519
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• 1994

The ComparativThe comperisons of Kintoki bean lectin (KBL) and Taro tuber lectin (TTL) which have been studied in our laboratory are summerized. The recoveries of pure lectins are 0.12% and 0.014%, respectively. They seems to have slight differences in isoelectric points(pH) ; 5.19~5.67 for KBL and 6.41~7.42 for TTL. The minimum concentrations of HA are $2.8\mu\textrm{g}/ml\;and\;21.6\mu\textrm{g}/ml$. The enzymatic modification on HA, growth inhibition, inhibition of nutritional absorption and binding capacities (FITC, $^3H$) of KBL are demonstrated to be much greater than those of TTL.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.131-134
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• 2006

The in vitro anti-fungal activity of hydroxylated fatty acids obtained from microbial conversion by Psuedomonas aeruginosa PR3 using ricinoleic acid(RA), eicosadienoic acid(EDA) and conjugated linoleic acid(CLA) as substrates, was investigated. Bioconverted hydroxylated fatty acids showed different anti-fungal activities potentials against the range of phytopathogenic fungi such as Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Sclerotonia sclerotiorum, Colletotricum capsici, Fusarium solani and Phytophthora capsici. RA and EDA showed up to 50% fungal mycelial inhibition at the concentration of $5{\mu}l\;ml^{-1}$. RA, EDA and CLA also exhibited anti-fungal activities with minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC), ranging from 500 to $1000{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}$. Screening was also carried out using varied concentrations of bioconverted RA and EDA for determining the anti-fungal effect on the spore germination of different fungi. Bioconverted RA and EDA showed a considerable degree of spore germination inhibition.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.146-150
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• 2017

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogenic bacterium that causes food poisoning, exhibits a strong capacity to form biofilm, and is highly resistant to antimicrobial agents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial characteristics of corosolic acid against S. aureus. S. aureus showed high susceptibility to corosolic acid in a concentration-dependent manner. The minimum inhibitory concentration and colony-forming ability determined by the broth microdilution method showed that corosolic acid had strong antimicrobial activity against the bacteria. The diameters of the inhibition zone and numbers of colony forming units at each concentration of corosolic acid were also measured. In addition, corosolic acid displayed potent biofilm inhibition activity against S. aureus at concentrations below its minimum inhibitory concentration. These results suggest that corosolic acid can be used to effectively prevent biofilm formation by S. aureus, thereby making S. aureus more susceptible to the action of antimicrobials.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.565-571
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the tolerance of some resistant fungal strains from soils contaminated with heavy metals. Various fungal strains were isolated from soil samples collected from studied sites which heavy metals and other pollutants have been emitted in effluents for several years. Fungi isolated belong to different genera; however, Penicillium spp. showed the most frequent species. The microbial number was remarkably higher in the control soil than contaminated soil samples collected from mining areas. $Pb^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ had the highest concentration in the polluted soils ranging from 89 - 3,521 ppm and 98 - 4,383 ppm, respectively. The minimum inhibition concentrations (MICs) of $Pb^{+2}$ and $Zn^{+2}$ showed the highest values against the fungal strains. $Ni^{+2}$ and $Co^{+2}$ were the lowest contaminants in the polluted soils with the concentration of 5 to 12.1 ppm and 1.8 to 4.8 ppm, respectively. The tested resistant strains showed the strongest inhibition for $Ni^{+2}$ and $Co^{+2}$ up to 200-400 ppm. Cadmium was the most highly toxic heavy metal for most of strains, however, 1 mM of $Cr^{3+}$, $Cu^{2+}$ and $Pb^{2+}$ accelerated the growth of Penicillium verrucosum KNU3. $Cu^{+2}$ and $Zn^{+2}$ at concentration of 1 mM did not affect the growth rate P. funiculosum KNU4. Tolerance of fungal species to heavy metals appears to be strain and origin dependent.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.174-179
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• 1997

The antimicrobial and GTase(Glucosyltransferase) inhibition activity were investigated for solvent fractions of Gall-nut, variety of fork drugs and Red-grape husk water extracts. Among them, Gall-nut and Red-grape husk water extracts were selected for the powerful antimicrobial and GTase inhibition activity. The methanol fractions of Gall-nut and Red-grape husk were showed very powerful antimicrobial activity on both B. subtilis and E. coli. The MIC(Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) of gall-nut methanol fraction were 1.0mg/ml for B. subtilis and 3.0mg/ml for E. coli. Red-grape husk were 2.0mg/ml for B. subtilis and 3.0mg/ml for E. coli. The methanol fractions of Gall-nut and Red-grape husk were showed very powerful Gtase inhibition activity. The concentrations of these fractions for 80% inhibition of GTase activity were 1.08$\times$10-3mg/ml and 1.08$\times$10-2mg/ml, respectively. The principal compound for the antimicrobial and GTase inhibition activity in tese extracts seems to be polyphenol derivatives.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2013

This study was performed to investigate the antimicrobial effect against food-borne pathogens of Sanguisorbae officinalis L. ethanol extract. The antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract was determined using a paper disc-diffusion method and the diameter of the clear zone was measured. The diameters of the clear zone in the presence of 10 mg of the ethanol extract were the maximum against Staphylococcus aureus among the tested 4 gram-positive bacteria and Pseudomonas aeruginosa among the tested 7 gram-negative bacteria. Analysis of the minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC) showed that the ethanol extract exhibited a similar efficacy as sorbic acid, well-known chemical preservatives. The growth inhibitory effects of the ethanol extract in the concentrations of 250, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 mg/L on food-borne pathogens were determined against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella Typhimurium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The growth of the microorganisms was significantly (p<0.05) inhibited by the ethanol extract in the concentrations higher than 250 mg/L. Thus, the results of the present study demonstrate that the ethanol extract exhibits antimicrobial effects against food-borne pathogens, suggesting that Sanguisorbae officinalis L. could be used as natural antibacterial agent in food.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1908-1919
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• 2015

This work investigated the potential of curcumin (CCM) and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) to inhibit N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL)-mediated biofilm formation in gram-negative bacteria from membrane bioreactor (MBR) activated sludge. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of CCM alone against all the tested bacteria were 200-350 μg/ml, whereas those for EGCG were 300-600 μg/ml. Biofilm formation at one-half MICs indicated that CCM and EGCG alone respectively inhibited 52-68% and 59-78% of biofilm formation among all the tested bacteria. However, their combination resulted in 95-99% of biofilm reduction. Quorum sensing inhibition (QSI) assay with known biosensor strains demonstrated that CCM inhibited the expression of C4 and C6 homoserine lactones (HSLs)-mediated phenotypes, whereas EGCG inhibited C4, C6, and C10 HSLs-based phenotypes. The Center for Disease Control biofilm reactor containing a multispecies culture of nine bacteria with one-half MIC of CCM (150 μg/ml) and EGCG (275 μg/ml) showed 17 and 14 μg/cm² of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on polyvinylidene fluoride membrane surface, whereas their combination (100 μg/ml of each) exhibited much lower EPS content (3 μg/cm²). Confocal laser scanning microscopy observations also illustrated that the combination of compounds tremendously reduced the biofilm thickness. The combined effect of CCM with EGCG clearly reveals for the first time the enhanced inhibition of AHL-mediated biofilm formation in bacteria from activated sludge. Thus, such combined natural QSI approach could be used for the inhibition of membrane biofouling in MBRs treating wastewaters.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.22
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• pp.54-62
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• 2004

We examined the impacts of anthyopogenic pollutant (benzo〔a〕pyrene) on the growth and photosynthesis of five marine phytoplankton species (Skeletonema costatum, Heterosigma akashiwo, Prorocentrum dentatum, P. minimum, Aknshiwo sanguinea), which are dominant in Korean coastal water. After the 72 h exposure to benzo〔a〕pyrene, the dramatic decrease in cell numbers was observed in the range of 1 to 10 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ for S. costatum, P. minimum, P. dentatum, whereas for A. sanguinea and H. akashiwo at the low concentrations 0.1 to 1 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ . Among the 5 phytoplankton species, the highest growth inhibition concentration ($IC_{50}$/) was 6.20 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ for P. minimum, followed by 2.14 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ for P. dentatum, 1.68 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ for S. costatum, 0.74 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ for H. akashiwo, 0.10 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ for A. sanguinea. The five species exposed to the low concentration of 1 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ were recovered after transferring to new media, but the species exposed to the high concentrations of 10 and 100 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ were not recovered, with the exception of P. minimum. Those results indicate that the thecate dinoflagellate P. minimum is most tolerant to the chemical and the athecate dinoflagellate A. sanguinea is not. Geneyally, the cell-specific photosynthetic capacity of H. akashiwo exposed to the low concentrations of 0.1 and 1 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ was higher than that of the cells in the control, whereas the cells exposed to the high concentrations of 5 and 10 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ showed the negligible photosynthetic level by the first few days of the experiment. In the case of the cells exposed to the concentration of 5 $\mu\textrm{g}$ L$^{-1}$ , after 12 days of the experiment the photosynthetic capacity was increased toward the end of the experiment. This indicates that H. akashiwo may utilize the benzo〔a〕pyrene as a carton source for its growth when exposed to low concentrations. Results suggest that anthropogenic pollutants such as benzo〔a〕pyrene may have significant influence on the succession of phytoplankton species composition and the primary production in coastal marine environments.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.214-220
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• 2019

Hwangryunhaedok-tang (HT) is prescribed in oriental medicine to treat inflammation-related diseases. This study examined the anti-bacterial effect to select the index components of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) HT. The disc diffusion method and minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC) tests were conducted to measure the antibacterial activity of HT. The strains were Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Escherichia coli 23724. Berberine and geniposide were selected as the index components of HT and were analyzed quantitatively by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). As a result, the inhibition ring was formed at $11.7{\pm}1.3mm$ and $8.7{\pm}0.7mm$ at HT 20 mg and 10 mg on S.aureus ATCC 25923, respectively; and $8.0{\pm}0.0mm$ at HT 20 mg on E.coli ATCC 23724. The MIC were 31.25 mg/mL in S.aureus ATCC 25923 and 125.0 mg/mL in E.coli ATCC 23724. In quantitative analysis for standardization, HT contained 16.55 mg/g of berberine and 81.85 mg/g of geniposide. Overall, when antibiotics are developed using natural products, they may reduce the side effects and inhibit resistant bacteria. If research on HT continuously proceeds, positive developments are expected to be made in oriental medicine as well as in various other industries.