• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2016

BACKGROUND: This study was carried out to survey the levels of heavy metals in perennial root vegetables and to assess dietary exposure and risk to the Korean population health.METHODS AND RESULTS: Perennial root vegetables (n=214) including Panax ginseng C.A mayer, Woodcultivated ginseng, Codonopsis lanceolata, and Platycodon granditloum were collected from markets or harvested from farmhouse in Korea. Lead(Pb), cadmium(Cd) and arsenic (As) analysis were performed with microwave device and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Limit of detection for heavy metals were 0.010~0.050 μg/kg, while limit of quantitation were 0.035~0.175 μg/kg. The recovery results were in the range of 76~102%. The average contents of heavy metals in perennial root vegetables were in the range of Pb 0.013(Panax ginseng C.A Mayer)~0.070 (Wood-cultivated ginseng) mg/kg, Cd 0.009(Panax ginseng C.A Mayer)~0.034(Codonopsis lanceolata) mg/kg, and As 0.002(Panax ginseng C.A Mayer)~0.004(Plafycodon grandiflorum) mg/kg, respectively. For risk assessment, daily intakes of heave metals were estimated and risk indices were calculated in comparison with reference dose. The dietary exposures of heavy metals through usual intake were Pb 0.070 μg/day, Cd 0.041 μg/day and As 0.008 μg/day, taking 0.03%, 0.08% and 0.0003% as risk indices, respectively.CONCLUSION: The risk level for Korean population exposed to heavy metals through intake of perennial root vegetables was far low, indicating of little possibility of concern.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.551-560
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• 2018

Bellflower root (Platycodon grandiflorum), which belongs to the Campanulaceae family, is a perennial grass that grows naturally in Korea, northeastern China, and Japan. Bellflower is widely consumed as both food and medicine owing to its high nutritional value and potential therapeutic effects. Since foodborne disease outbreaks often come from vegetables, understanding the public health risk of microorganisms on fresh vegetables is pivotal to predict and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks. We investigated the microbial communities on the bellflower root (n = 10). 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing targeting the V6-V9 regions of 16S rRNA genes was conducted via the 454-Titanium platform. The sequence quality was checked and phylogenetic assessments were performed using the RDP classifier implemented in QIIME with a bootstrap cutoff of 80%. Principal coordinate analysis was performed using the weighted Fast UniFrac distance. The average number of sequence reads generated per sample was 67,192 sequences. At the phylum level, bacterial communities from the bellflower root were composed primarily of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria in March and September samples. Genera Serratia, Pseudomonas, and Pantoea comprised more than 54% of the total bellflower root bacteria. Principal coordinate analysis plots demonstrated that the microbial community of bellflower root in March samples was different from those in September samples. Potential pathogenic genera, such as Pantoea, were detected in bellflower root samples. Even though further studies will be required to determine if these species are associated with foodborne illness, our results indicate that the 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing approach can be used to detect pathogenic bacteria on fresh vegetables.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.103 no.1
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• pp.65-71
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• 2014

Cacalia firma is a perennial plant in Asteraceae, Parasenecio that distributed in Korea, China, and Japan. As dietary style changes for well-being life, consumer's demand of functional food and organic vegetables is getting increased. This study was conducted to investigate the optimum light conditions of P. firmus in forest farming. One year old seedlings were grown under four different light conditions 10%, 20%, 30%, and 50% of sunlight by shading (equals 50%, 30%, 20%, and 10% relative brightness respectively) and non-treated control under full sunlight. They were analyzed for early growth and physiological response. Seedlings grown under 75% shading showed similar height, root growth, and leaf water content to control. However, their leaf length, width, and total leaf area were increased, which caused increased leaf dry weight and total dry weight. Especially, seedlings under 95% shading showed 40% increase in height and more leaf growth and leaf water content, although they had shorter main root length and root collar diameter than control. In addition specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf area ratio (LAR) were higher than control and indicated that they were statistically significant difference from control. Higher SLA refers thinner leaf thickness, higher LAR means larger leaf area. The results indicate seedlings under 95% shading have higher water content, thinner leaf, and wider lightinterception areas. It is plausible that P. firmus is active in chlorophyll activities and carbon dioxide assimilation at even lower light conditions. These results suggest that the optimum light level of P. firmus for artificial cultivation in forest farming ranges from 75~95% shading (20%-10% of relative brightness). When salability as 'sanchae' (wild edible greens) is considered, P. firmus could be cultivated under 75% shading in forest farming and expected to have better taste and higher yield. We suggest these results as basic data of P. firmus for possible forest farming.