• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.179-185
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• 2018

In this study, the optimal fermenting conditions of sugar extracts of Artemisia annua L. (Aa), Houttuynia cordata Thunb (Hc), and Saururus chinensis Baill (Sc) were determined to develop fermented beverages. The sugar extracts ($50{\pm}5^{\circ}Bx$) were diluted to 10, 15, and $20^{\circ}Bx$, and fermented with 2% (v/v) of Lactobacillus plantarum DK119 ($5{\times}10^9CFU/mL$) at $37^{\circ}C$ for 4 days. According to the lactic acid bacteria population, pH, titratable acidity, and reducing sugar content, $20^{\circ}Bx$ for Aa, $10^{\circ}Bx$ for Hc and $15^{\circ}Bx$ for Sc were the maximum concentrations for the fermentation. There were no changes in total polyphenol content in the extracts of Aa, Hc, and Sc, whereas the radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power were increased during the fermentation. Lactic acid fermentation resulted in improvement of sensory evaluation scores on unfavorable plant taste and overall acceptability of the sugar extracts of medicinal plants.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.202-210
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• 2020

As the elderly population increases, it is becoming important to prevent and treat muscle loss caused by aging or disease. Steroidal androgen in the protein assimilation steroid (AAS) system is mainly used to induce muscle improvement, but it is well known that long-term or excessive doses of AAS result in various side effects, although they are prescribed for various muscle and weight loss treatments. Research is therefore underway to explore natural substances that promote muscle renewal with relatively few side effects. However, despite many studies on the improvement of skeletal muscle and the reduction of muscle disease using natural products, there is still a lack of significant clinical results and mechanism studies. The promotion of muscle regeneration through treatment with natural substances typically involves three mechanisms: positive control of the muscle modulating factor (MRF), activation of the protein synthesis mechanism, and inhibition of the protein breakdown mechanism. A study of plant extracts that are known to have muscle neoplasmic stimulation effects, such as black ginseng, plum, and nutmeg, as well as single substances derived from natural products, such as creatine, catechin, and several fatty acids, is therefore described. We also summarize the mechanisms that have been identified so far through which each of these extracts or single materials facilitates muscle regeneration and the signaling pathways that they mediate.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.2 s.94
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• pp.126-132
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• 2001

Urbanization and population increase result in the construction of STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants). Discharge from STPs greatly influences on the water quality in the stream which receives discharges. The decision of STP location should be considered with the discharge capacity of STP and self-purification of river in the water quality perspectively. In this study, a change of dissolved oxygen (DO) in a river being affected by STP discharge was simulated by the STELLA model. Minimum DO was 4.98 ppm in 42.6 km downstream of STP. Approximately, it takes 8days to recover the DO by the self-purification and this location is 340 km down-stream from the STP. If the model run for the consideration of the self-purification without phytoplankton algorithms, minimum DO was 4.92 ppm. It took 0.25 day longer to be the minimum DO than that with the phytoplankton functions. Without the phytoplankton algorithm, it took 11days to recover the DO. This proves the importance of phytoplankton in the self-purification processes. Additionally, the effect of adjacent STP discharge should be considered in the construction of new STP.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.317-330
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• 2009

To diminish the levels of organic matters, a novel S-CROM (continuous removal of organic matters in the stream system using freshwater bivalve), was developed and applied to the polluted stream discharging from the wastewater treatment plant, Pocheon stream, Pocheon city (Korea). Major pollutants of the stream were human population and industrial wastewaters. The study was conducted at a small dam constructed within the stream, often called 'bo', and designed with four tanks; no mussels and no sediment (negative control), no mussels and sediment (positive control), 30 mussels and sediment (D1), and 60 mussels and sediment (D2). Physicochemical and biological parameters were measured at 12 hours interval (day and night) after mussel stocking. Results indicated that Anodonta woodiana Lea (D2) clearly removed approximately 72% of chl-$\alpha$ and 57% of suspended solids on second day, however, there were no differences in removal activities between animal densities (P>0.5). Dislike a laboratory CROM system, which previously developed, there were no huge release of nutrient ($NH_3$-N and SRP), due perhaps to the higher flow rate and the lower animal density. Therefore, we may suggest that if we can determine the relevant current and the animal density considering the stream state, an S-CROM system has a strong potential to water quality improvement of eutrophic streams. Some characteristics on both CROM and S-CROM were compared.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.603-612
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• 2014

According to the microbiological standard, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens and Listeria monocytogenes should not be detected in milk and egg products in Korea. Refrigerated food such as milk must be kept under $10^{\circ}C$ at retail markets. However, temperature abuse of refrigerated foods at such markets is often observed. We compared the growth and survival kinetics of S. aureus and C. perfringens at 10 and $15^{\circ}C$, and the growth kinetics of L. monocytogenes at 4 and $10^{\circ}C$ in whole and skim milk and ready-to-eat (RTE) quail eggs to evaluate their growth possibilities at retail markets. Regardless of storage temperature, the level of S. aureus reached the maximum level ($10^8-10^9CFU/ml$) in whole milk, non-fat milk and RTE quail eggs within the expiration date. Even low contamination levels of S. aureus (10 CFU/mL) grew rapidly in milk and quail eggs to reach the maximum level within the shelf life. Survival of C. perfringens in whole milk was greater than that in non-fat milk, indicating that the fat content in milk influences the survival of C. perfringens. For L. monocytogenes, the population in milk increased by 0.5-1 log CFU/mL at $4^{\circ}C$, while the populations reached the maximum level at $10^{\circ}C$ within the expiration date, regardless of initial contamination levels. In quail eggs, L. monocytogenes grew to the maximum level within the expiration date (60 days) at both temperatures. S. aureus and L. monocytogenes must be controlled to be negative, and proper temperature management should be emphasized at retail markets to protect the consumer. Since C. perfringens did not grow in milk and RTE quail eggs, there is no risk due to the growth of C. perfringens in these products at retail markets.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.83-94
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• 2009

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of application of spent mushroom compost(SMC) on soil chemical properties and tomato growth. After the mushroom has been harvested, the SMC contains a lot of organic material, different microorganism and high density of mushroom hypha. SMC of white button mushroom(Agaricus bisporus) contained diverse microorganisms including fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. and actinomycetes. These isolates showed strong antagonistic to bacterial wi1t(Ralstonia solanacearum) and fusarium wi1t(Fusarium oxysporum) of tomato. The growth and sugar content of tomato showed no significant difference with other treatments by stage of maturity. The EC, exchangeable K and Ca contents of the soil during growing stage were increased in comparison to those of farmhouse practice, but available phosphate decreased. Microbial population in the soil in all growing stages showed no significant difference with other treatments, but yield of tomato decreased in some way in comparison to farmhouse practice. As the result of analysis on chemical property of soil and plant growth and yield of tomato, it seems likely that SMC of white button mushroom(Agaricus bisporus) may be used as substitute of practice compost on cultivation of tomato.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.72-79
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• 2001

The effect of phenol on the change of bacterial community in the effluent water from a wastewater treatment plant was analyzed by PCR and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). The fragments of 16S rDNA were amplified by PCR with bacterial primers, where one of the primers was biotinylated at the 5'-end. After digestion with restriction enzymes, HaeIII and AluI, the biotinylated terminal restriction tragments (T-RFs) of the digested products were selectively isolated by using streptavidin paramagnetic particles. The single-stranded DNA of T-RFs was separated by electrophoresis on a polyacrylamide gel and detected by silver staining technique. When 10 standard strains were analyzed by our method, each strain had a unique T-RF which corresponded to the calculated size from the known sequences of RDP database. The T-RFLP fingerprint generated from the effluent water was very complex, and the predominant T-RFs corresponded to members of the genus Acinetobacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas. In addition, the perturbation of bacterial community was observed when phenol was added to the sample at the final concentration of 250 $l^{-1}$. The number of T-RFs increased and the major bacterial population could be assigned to the genus Acinetobacter, Comamonas, Cytophaga and Pseudomonas. A intense band assigned to the putative genera of Acinetobacter and Cytophaga was eluted, amplified, and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of the T-RF showed close relationship with the sequence of Acinetobacter junii.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.219-226
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• 2015

The anticancer activity of a methanolic extract from lemon leaves (MLL) was assessed in MCF-7-SC human breast cancer stem cells. MLL induced apoptosis in MCF-7-SC, as evidenced by increased apoptotic body formation, sub-G1 cell population, annexin V-positive cells, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, as well as proteolytic activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) protein. Concomitantly, MLL induced the formation of acidic vesicular organelles, increased LC3-II accumulation, and reduced the activation of Akt, mTOR, and p70S6K, suggesting that MLL initiates an autophagic progression in MCF-7-SC via the Akt/mTOR pathway. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a critical step in the acquisition of the metastatic state, is an attractive target for therapeutic interventions directed against tumor metastasis. At low concentrations, MLL induced anti-metastatic effects on MCF-7-SC by inhibiting the EMT process. Exposure to MLL also led to an increase in the epithelial marker E-cadherin, but decreased protein levels of the mesenchymal markers Snail and Slug. Collectively, this study provides evidence that lemon leaves possess cytotoxicity and anti-metastatic properties. Therefore, MLL may prove to be beneficial as a medicinal plant for alternative novel anticancer drugs and nutraceutical products.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.158-163
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• 2018

Perilla (Perilla frutescens var.frutescens) is an annual plant of the Lamiaceae family, mainly grown for obtaining oil by press extraction after roasting the seeds. Oil yield is one of its important traits, but evaluating this yield is time-consuming, requires many seeds, and is hard to adjust to pedigrees in a breeding field. The objective of this study was to develop a method for selecting high-oil-yield lines in a breeding population without oil extraction. Twenty-three perilla cultivars were used for evaluating the oil yield and seed traits such as seed hardness, seed coat thickness, seed coat proportion and crude fat. After evaluation of the seed traits of 23 perilla cultivars, the ranges of oil yields, seed hardness, seed coat thickness, seed coat proportion, 100-seed weight, and crude fat were 24.68-38.75%, 157-1166 gf, $24-399{\mu}m$, 15.4-41.5%, 2.79-6.69 g, and 33.0-47.8%, respectively. In an analysis of correlation coefficients, the oil yield negatively correlated with seed length, seed width, the proportion of seed coat, seed hardness, and 1000-seed weight, but positively correlated with crude fat content. It was observed that as the seed coat proportion increased, the seed coat thickness, hardness, and 1000-seed weight also increased. Multiple linear regression (MLR) was employed to find major variables affecting the oil yield. Among the variables, traits crude fat content and seed coat proportion were assumed to be indirect parameters for estimating the potential oil yield, with respect to a significant positive correlation with the observed oil yield ($R^2=0.791$). Using these two parameters, an equation was derived to predict the oil yield. The results of this study show that various seed traits in 23 perilla cultivars positively or negatively correlated with the oil yield. In particular, crude fat and the seed coat proportion can be used for predicting the oil yield with the newly developed equation, and this approach will improve the efficiency of selecting prominent lines for the oil yield.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.116-125
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• 2017

Alpine plants with a scarcity of pollinators in harsh environments have been believed to undergo selfing for reproductive assurance; however, contradictory evidence is also available. Snowmelt regimes in alpine areas function to change life history characteristics of alpine plants such as flowering time and duration; yet the effects of snowmelt regimes have never been tested in alpine plants in Korea. This study was conducted to investigate the dichogamy, mating systems, and flowering characteristics of Megaleranthis saniculifolia populations [early and late snowmelt plots (ESP and LSP, respectively)] in a subalpine area of Sobaeksan Mountain in Korea. M. saniculifolia exhibited incomplete protogyny in that despite early maturation of pistils, maturation times of pistils and stamens within flowers were partly overlapped. Control and hand-outcrossing treatments produced significantly higher number of follicles and seeds per flower than autonomous and hand-selfing treatments. Based on the aggregate fruit set, the auto-fertility index (AI) and self-compatibility index (SI) were 0.33 and 0.50, respectively. Snowmelt occurred 10 days earlier in ESP than in LSP, thereby ESP and LSP showed distinct differences with regard to flower longevity and season, but showing no difference in peak flowering dates. We concluded that M. saniculifolia is an incomplete protogynous and largely outcrossing plant requiring pollinator service. Temporal variation in snowmelt time and subsequent changes in flowering characteristics under climate change may further threaten the population persistence of M. saniculifolia which has already been designated as endangered species in Korea.