• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.10
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• pp.1614-1618
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• 2014

To utilize Smilax china L. leaves as a natural preservatives, solvent fractions from crude methanol extract were prepared and investigated their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus. Antioxidant activities were examined by 1,1-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power assays. Ethyl acetate fraction from Smilax china L. leaves exhibited the strongest antioxidant and antimicrobial activities among the fractions (P<0.05), as well as the highest total phenolic and total flavonoid contents. Caffeic acid, ferulic acid, quercetin, and kaempferol contents in the ethyl acetate fraction from Smilax china L. leaves were determined by TLC and HPLC. In aqueous phase, as well as the n-butanol and n-hexane fractions, quercetin, ferulic acid, and kaempferol were detected in small amounts. Ferulic acid, which showed the highest content, is the major active compound from Smilax china L. leaves.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.167-172
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• 2012

The antimicrobial activities of $Smilax$ $china$ L. against spoilage bacteria isolated from $Mang-gae$ rice cake were investigated and the storage stability of the $Mang-gae$ rice cake was enhanced. Spoilage bacteria, which cause $Mang-gae$ rice cake to rot, were isolated from commercial $Mang-gae$ rice cake, and most of the isolated strains were identified as $Bacillus$ sp. After the leaves, roots, shoots, and stalks of the $Smilax$ $china$ L. were extracted using 50% ethanol as the solvent, their antimicrobial activities were investigated using the paper disc method by treating them with 50 ${\mu}L$ of $Bacillus$ $cereus$, which is known as a major pathogenic micro-organism in foods that contain starch, as the test organism. The antimicrobial activities of the extracts were compared according to the size of the clear zones around the paper discs. The root extract showed significant antimicrobial activities. When red beans, which are used as stuffing for $Mang-gae$ rice cake, were treated with the root extract of the $Smilax$ $china$ L., the viable cell count of the $Mang-gae$ rice cake was 5.04 Log CFU/g after 48-hr storage, and the cake showed significantly slower growth of bacteria than with commercial products. These results show that treatment of red beans with $Smilax$ $china$ root extract could improve the storage stability of $Mang-gae$ rice cake.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.764-772
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• 2011

Hot-water and 70%-ethanol Smilax china leaf extracts were prepared, and their total polyphenol and flavonoid contents, DPPH-radical-scavenging ability, nitrite-scavenging ability, and antimicrobial activity were determined. The total polyphenol contents of the hot-water and ethanol extract were $5.433{\pm}0.171$ and $13.060{\pm}0.110mg/g$, respectively; their flavonoid contents were $1.599{\pm}0.017$ and $3.005{\pm}0.084mg/g$; their DPPH-radical-scavenging abilities, assayed at 1.0 mg/mL, were 33.6 and 92.3%; and their nitrite-scavenging abilities, assayed at 0.1-2.0 mg/mL, were 37.9-61.6 and 38.4-77.8%. The 70%-ethanol extract showed higher antimicrobial activity than the hot-water extract. The antimicrobial activities were high in Bacillus cereus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella typhymurium, and Staphylococcus aureus, in that order. The antimicrobial substances in the two extracts were maintained after heating at $65-125^{\circ}C$ for 30 min.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.1133-1138
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• 2006

Smilax china root has been used as traditional medicinal remedy in China and Korea and reported to have various biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic and antimicrobial activities. In this study, the possibility of development as natural antioxidants of Smilax china root extracts was investigated. For the evaluation of antioxidant activity, aqueous- and 25% EtOH extract from Smilax china root were prepared and six different evaluation assay methods, i.e., measurement of total phenolics, radical scavenging effects on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrite $(NO_2)$, reducing power, and inhibitory effect on tyrosinase activity, were used. The total phenolics content of two extracts was high as the level of 36 mg of gallic acid equivalent per 1 g of dried sample tested. The radical scavenging activities of ethanol extract toward DPPH and NO were better than those of aqueous extract (p<0.05). The $NO_2$ scavenging activity of both extracts showed the highest value at pH 1.2 (98%). Especially, the $NO_2$ scavenging activities of EtOH extract were significantly stronger than those of aqueous one at pH 4.2 (51%) and pH 6.0 (32%), respectively. In the reducing power test, both extracts revealed higher ferric ion reducing activity than known antioxidant, vitamin C at the level of $0.05\sim0.1mg/mL$ (p<0.01). The 1 mL of aqueous and 25% EtOH extract showed effective inhibition activity on tyrosinase activity as 45% and 53%, respectively. Therefore, these results suggest that two extracts from Smilax china root may serve as useful natural antioxidants.