• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1022-1026
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• 2016

In this study the hot water extract was prepared from Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides (Araliaceae) leaves and stems to study antioxidant activities and lipoxygenase inhibition. The extract showed the protective hydroxyl radical (-OH) which can damage virtually all types of macromolecules: carbohydrates, nucleic acids (mutations), lipids (lipid peroxidation), and amino acids. Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of H. sibthorpioides was 78.6%. The extract showed strong activity against 1, 1- diphenyl 2-picrylhyorazyl (DPPH) which is a well-known radical and a trap (scavenger) for other radicals. DPPH scavenging activity of leaves of H. sibthorpioides was evaluated at 8.0 mg/ml was 86.0%. Lipoxygenases (LOXs) constitute a heterogeneous family of lipid peroxidizing enzymes capable of oxygenating polyunsaturated fatty acids to their corresponding hydroperoxy derivatives. The inhibitory effect of 15-LOX by H. sibthorpioides was assayed using a Morgan microplate assay. The extract of H. sibthorpioides was 55.5% inhibitory effects on the inhibition of LOX at 8.0 mg/ml. The IC₅₀ values for OH activity, DPPH activity, and LOX inhibition from leaves 5.23 mg/ml, 6.44 mg/ml, and 3.71 mg/ml, respectively. Antioxidative activity assay showed that the water extracts from leaf and stem had a strong reducing power. These results show that H. sibthorpioides has some phytochemical constituents which may be active against the free radicals (OH and DPPH) and lipoxygenase enzyme.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.642-648
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to determine the capsaicinoid and antioxidant compounds and to evaluate the biological activity of 40 different pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) breeding lines. Capsaicinoid and ascorbic acid content were measured with HPLC. Total polyphenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity were measured with spectrophotometric methods. The antiproliferative qualities of the samples against human breast tumor cells (MCF7) were assessed with a MTT assay. The nitric oxide content in the culture media was measured to evaluate the anti-inflammatory qualities of the samples using Raw264.7 macrophages. The capsaicinoid, ascorbic acid, polyphenolic and flavonoid content of the 40 pepper breeding lines were 0.1~204.2 mg/100 g (dry weight basis, DWB), 279.1~1695.5 mg/g (DWB), 2.6~10.2 mg/g (DWB), and 1.4~5.7 mg/g (DWB), respectively. The highest antioxidant, antiproliferative, and anti-inflammatory qualities were found in breeding line numbers 2500, 3201, and 3232, respectively. This study provides basic information useful to plant breeders and biotechnologists who are planning to breed pepper genotypes with high phytochemical content.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.456-460
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• 2008

Santalum album has been used as a folk medicine for treatment of skin diseases, inflammation, gonorrhea, gleet, and cystitis in India and other Asian countries. In a search for possible bioactive agents from natural sources, we found that the various solvent extracts of S. album showed significant antioxidative effect in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity test and moderate other biological functions submitted to the several bioassay systems for whitening and cytotoxicity evaluations. Among the tested extracts displayed DPPH radical scavenging activity, and the 70% acetone extract showed the most potent activity with an $IC_{50}$ value of $18.6\;{\mu}g/ml$, more potent than a positive control, L-ascorbic acid ($IC_{50}$, $28.7\;{\mu}g/mL$). Also, anti-lipid peroxidation, tyrosinase inhibitory, and cytotoxic effects were determined in each experiment. Total phenolic content of 70% acetone extract was found to be 117.1 mg equivalent of gallic acid per g of extract. Previous phytochemical investigation reveals the presence of phenolic compounds. The results indicate that S. album possess potential antioxidant activity and phenolic constituents are responsible for this capacity.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1288-1294
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• 2011

Resveratrol, a kind of phytochemical, is presented in grape skins. Resveratorl exerts antiproliferative, anti-cancer and pro-apoptotic activities in cancer cells. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a critical regulator of cellular growth and proliferation, and it is known to be a strategic target for anti-cancer therapeutic uses. mTOR is a major downstream of the PI3K/Akt pathway, which is activated in various cancer cells. It also plays an important role in the survival, proliferation and angiogenesis of cells. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an important protein that mediates inflammatory processes. It plays an important role in various tumors by affecting cell proliferation, mitosis, apoptosis and angiogenesis. In this study, we have investigated the effects of resveratrol on apoptosis through mTOR and COX-2 expression in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The treatment of resveratrol with different concentrations inhibited proliferation of MCF-7. The data showed that resveratrol induced apoptotic cell death of cancer cells and decreased mTOR and COX-2 expression. These results suggest that resveratrol induces apoptosis of MCF-7 breast cancer cells by inhibiting mTOR and COX-2 expression.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.7
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• pp.466-475
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• 2017

Dietary supplements have exhibited myriads of positive health effects on human health conditions and with the advent of new technological advances, including in the fields of proteomics, genomics, and metabolomics, biological and pharmacological activities of dietary supplements are being evaluated for their ameliorative effects in human ailments. Recent interests in understanding and discovering the molecular targets of phytochemical-gene-protein-metabolite dynamics resulted in discovery of a few protein signature candidates that could potentially be used to assess the effects of dietary supplements on human health. Persimmon (Diospyros kaki) is a folk medicine, commonly used as dietary supplement in China, Japan, and South Korea, owing to its different beneficial health effects including anti-diabetic implications. However, neither mechanism of action nor molecular biomarkers have been discovered that could either validate or be used to evaluate effects of persimmon on human health. In present study, Mass Spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic studies were accomplished to discover proteomic molecular signatures that could be used to understand therapeutic potentials of persimmon leaf extract (PLE) in diabetes amelioration. Saliva, serum, and urine samples were analyzed and we propose that salivary proteins can be used for evaluating treatment effectiveness and in improving patient compliance. The present discovery proteomics study demonstrates that salivary proteomic profile changes were found as a result of PLE treatment in prediabetic subjects that could specifically be used as potential protein signature candidates.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.251-256
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• 2011

EGCG, catechins in green tea, is a kind of phytochemical. Through the regulation of signal pathways, EGCG has been known to show anti-oxidant and anti-tumor effects in cells. In this study, we investigated the apoptotic effects of EGCG through AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signal pathways, including hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-$1{\alpha}$). The experiments were performed in B16F10 melanoma cells in a hypoxic state. AMPK is activated by ATP consumption such as nutrient deficiency, exercise, heat shock, etc. The activated AMPK that plays an important role as an energy sensor inhibits proliferation of cancer cells, as well as inducing apoptosis. HIF-$1{\alpha}$, the primary transcriptional regulator of the response to oxygen deprivation, plays a critical role in modulating tumor growth and angiogenesis in a hypoxic state. The apoptotic effects of EGCG were studied in B16F10 cells in a hypoxic state. The results show that EGCG inhibits the transcriptional activity of HIF-$1{\alpha}$ and induces apoptosis. These observations suggest that EGCG may exert inhibitory effects of angiogenesis and control tumor cell growth in hypoxic melanoma cells.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.535-547
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• 2015

In this study, the chemical properties and phenolic compound of blueberry, bokbunja and mulberry and their pomace were determined to develop them as functional food materials. Water content of individual whole berry was ranged from 84.25-86.20%, and water content was significantly high in whole berries rather than their pomace (p<0.01). Additionally, each berry and its pomace's pH was 3.32-5.18. Among them, whole mulberry showed the highest pH which is 5.18 (p<0.01). Total polyphenol and flavonoid contents were the greatest in blueberry pomace and they were 24.81 mg/g and 2.13 mg/g, respectively (p<0.01). However, mulberry pomace generated the greatest anthocyanin content compared to others (p<0.01). In phenolic compound profiles, cyanin chloride was detected in mulberry and bokbunja. Epigallocatechin, gallocatechin and isorhamnetin were found only in blueberry. Catechin (hydrate) and epicatechin were greater in pomaces than whole berries except blueberry (p<0.01), otherwise, significantly great rutin (trihydrate) and quercetin contents were found in whole berries as compared to their pomace except blueberry (p<0.01). Gallic acid was significantly greatest in mulberry (p<0.01) and quercetin 3-D-galactoside was significantly greatest in blueberry (p<0.01). Apigenin and luteolin were traced in mulberry, and mulberry pomace showed greater apigenin and luteolin contents than whole mulberry (p<0.01). Naringenin was greater in pomaces than whole berries (p<0.01). As a result, it was found that all berry extracts used in this study were able to be applied as functional food materials and their pomace contained high phenolic compound enough to be a good source of phytochemical for nutraceutical use.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.66-74
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• 2012

It is well known that sunflower (SF) sprout has more beneficial effects than SF seed due to increased levels of phytochemical components such as vitamins, total phenolics, and isoflavones during germination. This study investigated the physicochemical properties and antioxidative activities of SF seed during both germination and cultivation. In a proximate analysis, the water content of SF groat was 9.17% and then increased to 15.32% on the 11th day after seeding. On a dry weight basis, crude fat content decreased while the contents of carbohydrates, crude protein, and crude ash increased. As cultivation proceeded, the contents of minerals were in decreasing order of K, Mg, Ca, Na, Zn, Fe, Mn, and Cu, in which SF sprout cultivated for 9 or 11 days contained the highest mineral contents. Though vitamin C was not detected on SF groat, the content of vitamin C continuously increased up to the 5th day of cultivation and then decreased gradually. Vitamin E content in SF groat was higher than that in SF sprout. It was also found that the vitamin E content in SF sprout was the highest on the 5th day of cultivation. Daidzin was not detected in SF groat, but its concentration reached a maximum on the 5th day of cultivation in SF sprouts. Furthermore, higher amounts of daidzein were observed on the 3rd, 5th, and 9th days of cultivation. The highest total isoflavone content was observed on either the 3rd or 5th day of cultivation. The highest content of total phenolics was observed on the 5th of cultivation. When DPPH radical and peroxyl radical scavenging activities of SF sprout were measured in order to measure antioxidant efficacy, it was found that 5 day-cultivated SF sprout had the highest scavenging activities. In conclusion, SF sprout cultivated for 9 or 11 days was found to be a good source of minerals. Furthermore, the fifth-day after seeding was the optimal time for the production of SF sprout with effective natural antioxidant activity and high amounts of functional components such as vitamins, total phenolics, and isoflavones.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.452-461
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• 2012

There is increasing evidence that dietary factors in plant-based diets are important for the prevention of chronic disease. Especially, phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables have been recognized as major contributors for the decreased level of oxidative stress. In this study, the effect of switching the dietary habit to high consumption of fruits and vegetables were evaluated on the parameters of serum antioxidant status in healthy high school students. Forty one students participated in a randomized controlled trial and were assigned to the control group (n = 18) or the intervention group (n = 23). The intervention group was provided for 8 weeks with the main food source being whole grain and vegetables. Anthropometric measurements, blood parameters and dietary intakes were measured, and compared before and after study. After 8 weeks, weight and BMI were significantly decreased in the intervention group (p = 0.000). The serum diacron reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) test resulted in a significantly decreased level only in the intervention group (p < 0.05) after 8 weeks, but serum biological antioxidant potential (BAP) was increased significantly in both groups (p < 0.001). Intake of energy, total fat, cholesterol and sodium in the intervention group were significantly decreased after 8 weeks (p < 0.05). Also, the intervention group had significantly increased vitamin and phytonutrient intakes of all-trans-${\beta}$-carotene, ${\alpha}$-carotene, ${\alpha}$-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, and total phenols (p < 0.05). Overall, the results of this study suggest that whole grain, fruits, and vegetables supplementation showed improvement of the adolescent health.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.59-65
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• 2012

This study evaluated the baby-leaf growth, leaf red color intensity, and phytochemical compounds, such as total phenols and total flavonoids using domestic Amaranthus accessions, to select promising germplasm for the use of baby-leaf vegetable. The 39 accessions, upper 15% of 262 Amaranthus germplasm collection showing high red color intensity in baby-leaf, measured as Hunter's a value, were primarily selected. The eleven accessions including IT199970, showing stable red color intensity in baby-leaf both in high-temperature and low temperature cultivation, were finally selected as promising germplasm for the use of baby-leaf vegetable Amaranthus. The leaf red color intensities when they were cultivated at low temperature period were generally higher than those at low temperature period, and all the eleven selected germplasm, including four Amaranthus sub-species and five unknown species, showed stable red color expression in baby-leaf. The total phenol and total flavonoid contents were also presented for finally selected germplasm including their baby-leaf fresh weights. These finally selected germplasm could be potentially used as baby-leaf vegetable resources, through fortifying the color balance of salad vegetable.