• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.23-28
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• 2023

Since the global shock caused by COVID-19, interest in immune-enhancing materials is rapidly increasing, therefore, the development of novel materials is necessary from the industrial and health perspectives. In this study, we selected Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner Seed Extract (NSE) and evaluated immune enhancement effect by using RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells. NSE significantly up-regulated production of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species without affecting cell viability in RAW 264.7 cells. Additionally, NSE exhibited an increase of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 expression in RAW 264.7 cells. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay results showed that NSE-treatment significantly enhanced production of interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor-α in RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, we observed that NSE significantly up-regulated phosphorylation of p65, I kappa B kinase α/β, and I kappa B (IκB) α as well as down-regulation of IκB α expression in RAW 264.7 cells. Our findings indicate that NSE could be the potential health-functional food material with capacity of improving immunity via Nuclear factor-kappa B signaling pathway.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.202-208
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• 2006

The effects of Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner) leaf dry powder on serum lipid concentrations were evaluated in rats. Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into six groups and fed high fat diets for sis weeks. Experimental groups were following diets; Control group (CON), 40 % animal and plant high fat group (AHF and PHF) control with 2% Lotus leaf dry powder group (CLDP), animal and plant high fat diets with 2% Lotus leaf powder group (AHFLDP, PHFLDP). Tissue weights of liver, heart, kidney, spleen and lung of AHF group exposed rats were decreased by PHFLDP groups. The concentrations of serum triglyceride in rats fed the CLDP and PHFLDP group were lower than those in other groups. The concentrations of total cholesterol in CLDP and PHFLDP group the were lower than those in AHF groups. The concentrations of HDL-cholesterol in serum of the CLDP and PHFLDP groups were significantly higher than those of other groups. The levels of LDL-cholesterol in serum of the CLDP and PHFLDP groups were tended to be lower than those of other groups. GPT and GOT were decreased in CLDP and PHFLDP groups and than in the AHF group. LDHase was lower in CLDP and PHFLDP groups than in the AHF group. These results suggest that 2% Lotus leaf dry powder groups may reduce elevated levels of serum lipid concentrations in rats fed high fat.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.373-380
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the nutritional components and antioxidant activities of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner flower (lotus flower, LF) and its wine (lotus flower wine, LF wine). The moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude ash, and carbohydrate contents of the LF were 85.90, 1.91, 0.30, 1.04, and 10.85%, respectively, and of the LF wine, 92.87, 1.70, 0.30, 0.15, and 5.17%, respectively. The total amino acids in the LF and the LF wine were 2,168 and 6,341 mg/kg, respectively. Palmitic acid (38.63%) was a major fatty acid in the crude fat of the LF, and oleic acid (76.24%) was a major fatty acid in the crude fat of the LF wine. The levels of potassium in the LF ($390.91{\pm}9.60mg/100g$) and the LF wine ($27.40{\pm}1.86mg/100g$) were higher than those of the other minerals. The total phenol and flavonoid contents of both the lotus flower water extract (LFW) and the lotus flower ethanol extract (LFE) were higher than those of the LF wine. In addition, the highest antioxidant activities and ORAC values were obtained from the LFW and the LFE. In conclusion, we found that the LF and the LF wine have potential as natural antioxidants due to their higher bioactive compound contents such as their total phenol and flavonoid contents.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1156-1162
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• 2018

To investigate the anti-thrombotic activities of the lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner), various hot-water extracts were prepared from the leaf, pod of seed (PS), seed, embryo of seed (ES), root, and the node of root (NR) of the lotus. The highest extraction ratio was found in the NR (20.3%), followed by the seed, root, leaf, ES, and PS. These extracts had pH and acidity levels ranging from 5.6~6.5 and 0.06~0.20%, respectively. The seed extract showed 70% brix, whereas the leaf and PS extracts showed less than 0.1% brix. The highest contents of total polyphenol (179.7 mg/g), total flavonoids (161.4 mg/g), and reducing sugar (161.4 mg/g) were observed in the leaf extract, and the highest total sugar content (873.0 mg/g) in the seed extract. Anti-coagulation assay of the extracts of NR, leaf, and PS showed strong activities. In particular, at a concentration of 5 mg/ml, the PS extract had 15-fold extended thrombin, prothrombin, and activated partial thromboplastin times. However, only the ES extract showed activities inhibitory to platelet aggregation, with treatment with 0.25 mg/ml of ES extract decreasing platelet aggregation to 25.1%, a reduction comparable to that effected by aspirin. The extracts other than the seed extract showed no hemolysis activities against human RBC at treatments of up to 1 mg/ml. These results suggest that the NR, PS, seed, and ES, all byproducts of the lotus agriculture industry, have high potential as novel sources of anti-thrombotic agent.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.1060-1077
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• 2021

Food additives are required to maintain the freshness and quality of foods, particularly meats. However, chemical additives may not be preferred by consumers, and natural materials with antimicrobial and antioxidant effects may be used as replacements for common chemical additives. Accordingly, in this study, we compared the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of natural compounds extracted with ethanol and hot water, and emulsion sausage prepared with natural ethanol extracts was analyzed for pH, color, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and Clostridium perfringens growth during storage. The antimicrobial activities of 49 natural extract candidates against Listeria monocytogenes, C. perfringens, Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli were analyzed, and six natural materials with excellent antibacterial activities, i.e., Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb. f. nakaiana (Araki) H. Ohba, Punica granatum L., Ecklonia cava, Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner, and Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill., and Rubus coreanus Miq. were evaluated to determine their total polyphenol contents and DPPH radical scavenging activities. The total polyphenol contents of ethanol extracts were higher than those of hot water extracts, whereas DPPH radical scavenging activity was found to be higher in hot water extracts. The TBARS values of emulsion sausages were significantly increased as storage time increased, and the TBARS values of emulsion sausages prepared with natural extracts were lower than those of control sausages. Natural extract-treated emulsion sausages showed a 99% reduction in bacterial contents compared with untreated sausages on day 2, with greater than 99.9% reduction after day 3. Thus, these results demonstrated that natural extracts could have applications as natural preservatives in meat products.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1054-1065
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• 2010

SH21B is a natural composition composed of seven herbs: Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, Prunus armeniaca Maxim, Ephedra sinica Stapf, Acorus gramineus Soland, Typha orientalis Presl, Polygala tenuifolia Willd and Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner (Ratio 3:3:3:3:3:2:2). In our previous study, we reported that SH21B inhibited adipogenesis and fat accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells through modulation of various regulators in the adipogenesis pathway. The aim of this study was to analyze the transcriptome profiles for the anti-adipogenic effects of SH21B in 3T3-L1 cells. Total RNAs from SH21B-treated 3T3-L1 cells were reverse-transcribed into cDNAs and hybridized to Affymetrix Mouse Gene 1.0 ST array. From microarray analyses, we identified 2,568 genes of which expressions were changed more than two-fold by SH21B, and the clustering analyses of these genes resulted in 9 clusters. Three clusters among the 9 showed down-regulation by SH21B (cluster 4, cluster 6 and cluster 9), and two clusters showed up-regulation by SH21B (cluster 7 and cluster 8) during the adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells. It was found that many genes related to cell proliferation and adipogenesis were included in these clusters. Clusters 4, 6 and 9 included genes which were related with adipogenesis induction and cell cycle arrest. Clusters 7 and 8 included genes related to cell proliferation as well as adipogenesis inhibition. These results suggest that the mechanisms of the anti-adipogenic effects of SH21B may be the modulation of genes involved in cell proliferation and adipogenesis.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2007

The nutritional compositions of different parts (roots, leaves, and seeds) of two lotus species (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner), Muan's white-flowered and Naju's pink-flowered, are as follows; crude protein content in the seed was four times higher and the carbohydrate content was three times higher than those in the root and leaf. Comparing between the species, the crude protein content of the white lotus was the higher than that of the pink lotus, but the carbohydrate content was comparatively lower. The potassium content of the minerals in all samples was much higher than those in others. Additionally, the iron content of the root was much higher than those in the leaf and seed. In both species, the major free sugar in the root was sucrose; the main sugars in the leaf were fructose and alucose, and those in the seed were stachyose, raffinose, and sucrose. Among amino acids, glutamic acid showed the highest level in the leaf and seed, while aspartic acid was the highest in the root.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.729-735
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• 2010

In our previous study, it was reported that an herbal mixture, SH21B, inhibits fat accumulation and adipogenesis both in vitro and in vivo models of obesity. SH21B is a mixture composed of seven herbs: Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, Prunus armeniaca Maxim, Ephedra sinica Stapf, Acorus gramineus Soland, Typha orientalis Presl, Polygala tenuifolia Willd, and Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner (Ratio 3:3:3:3:3:2:2). The aim of this study was to investigate the detailed molecular mechanisms of the effects of SH21B on various regulators of the adipogenesis pathway. During the adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells, SH21B significantly decreased the expression levels of central transcription factors of adipogenesis, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)$\gamma$ and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)$\alpha$. To elucidate the detailed molecular mechanism of the anti-adipogenic effects of SH21B, we examined the expression levels of the various pro-adipogenic or anti-adipogenic regulators of adipogenesis upstream of $PPAR{\gamma}$ and C/$EBP{\alpha}$. The mRNA levels of Krox20 and Kruppel-like factor (KLF) 15, which are pro-adipogenic regulators, were significantly down-regulated by SH21B treatment, whereas the mRNA levels of C/$EBP{\gamma}$ and KLF5 were not changed. KLF2 and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), which are anti-adipogenic regulators, were significantly up-regulated by SH21B treatment. These results suggest that the molecular mechanism of the anti-adipogenic effect of SH21B involves both the down-regulations of pro-adipogenic regulators, such as Krox20 and KLF15, and the up-regulations of anti-adipogenic regulators, such as KLF2 and CHOP, which results in the suppression of central transcription factors of adipogenesis including $PPAR{\gamma}$ and C/$EBP{\alpha}$.