• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.220-227
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• 2019

Stevia rebaudiana (Asteraceae), a perennial plant, has been used as a low-calorie sweetener and is being developed as a therapeutic agent for diabetes, hypertension, myocardial diseases, and microbial infections. Despite the common use of its leaves and stem, the bioavailability of the components present in S. rebaudiana flowers, when used as ingredients of cosmetics, has not been well investigated. Herein, we investigated the antioxidative and antimelanogenic effects of an aqueous extract of S. rebaudiana flowers (Stevia-F). Total flavonoid and phenolic content in Stevia-F were determined to be $8.64{\pm}0.23mg$ of quercetin equivalents/100 g and $631.5{\pm}2.01mg$ of gallic acid equivalents/100 g, respectively. The $IC_{50}$ values of Stevia-F for reducing power, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate radical, hydrogen peroxide, and nitric oxide scavenging activities were 5541.96, 131.39, 466.34, and $10.44{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. Stevia-F showed inhibitory effects on the tyrosinase ($IC_{50}=134.74{\mu}g/mL$) and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase ($IC_{50}=114.81{\mu}g/mL$) activities. No significant cytotoxicity of Stevia-F was observed in B16F10 cells, treated with up to $100{\mu}g/mL$ of the extract for 24 and 48 h (p > 0.05). Stevia-F ($1-100{\mu}g/mL$) suppressed ${\alpha}$-melanocyte stimulating hormone-induced melanin production in B16F10 cells (p < 0.05) and also inhibited the cellular tyrosinase activity (p < 0.05). Overall, our results show that Stevia-F possesses potential for inhibiting tyrosinase and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase activities and has significant antioxidant capacity. The antimelanogenic potential of Stevia-F should extend the usage of S. rebaudiana flowers in the development of skin-whitening products.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.212-218
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• 2009

This study was carried out to determine the quality characteristics of Jeju mandarin orange jellies containing sugar (control) and sugar derivative sweeteners (erythritol, isomaltooligosaccharide, sorbitol, and xylitol) to be consumed by the elderly. The gelling agents were carrageenan and gellan gum at the concentration of 0.27%, respectively. The average age of the subjects for the acceptance test was 78. The lightness (L), redness (a), and yellowness (b) values of the carrageenan gel were higher than those of the gellan gum gel using the same sugars. The L, a, and b values of the carrageenan gel made with sugar derivative sweeteners were higher than those of the respective gel made with sugar. Whereas there were almost no differences between the color values of the gellan gum gels made with sugar and sugar derivative sweeteners, respectively. The gelling and melting temperatures of the carrageenan gel with erythritol were highest and those of the respective gel with xylitol were lowest among the sugar derivative sweeteners. The gelling and melting temperatures of the gellan gum gels with erythritol and isomaltooligosaccharide, respectively, were lower, and those of the respective gel made with xylitol were higher compared to that with sugar. There was no break down in the gellan gum gel. The break down rate of the carrageenan gel made with isomaltooligosaccharide was highest and that of the respective gel with xylitol was lowest among the sugar derivative sweeteners. The hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, and chewiness of the gellan gum gel were greater compared to the carrageenan gel. The adhesiveness levels of the carrageenan gels made with sugar derivative sweeteners were lower, and their springiness was higher than the respective gel with sugar. All the TPA characteristics of the gellan gum gels made with erythritol and xylitol, respectively, were higher than the respective gel with sugar. The rupture properties of the gels were the same as their TPA characteristics. The sensory acceptance of the carrageenan and gellan gum gels made with sugar were highest among all the sweeteners. There were no significant differences in the sensory acceptance scores of the carrageenan gels made with xylitol, erythritol, and sugar, respectively, and there were also no significant differences in the sensory acceptance scores of the gellan gum gels made with xylitol, sorbitol, and sugar, respectively. Xylitol was preferred in both the carrageenan and gellan gum gels. Thus, xylitol appears to be an appropriate alternative sweetener to sugar in Jeju mandarin orange jelly for consumption by the elderly, with regard to the acceptability and stability of the gel.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1567-1579
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• 2023

Sucralose is used as a sucrose alternative in the food sector and is a globally approved pyrogenic, high-intensity artificial sweetener. However, due to the lack of studies on the effects of sweeteners on the brain, this study confirmed whether short-term consumption of sucralose has cognitive and memory protective effects in scopolamine-induced memory-injured animal models. After oral administration of sucralose 2, 5, and 10 mg/kg, scopolamine (1 mg/kg) was administered to the control group and the drug group 30 minutes later, and saline was administered intraperitoneally to the normal group, followed by behavioral experiments As a result of the experiment, Y-Maze, passive avoidance, and Morris WaterMaze recovered more than 10% of cognitive function compared to the control group. In addition, as a result of measuring proinflammatory cytokines, sucralose was found to inhibit IL-6 and TNF-α by more than 30%, and we observed that the expression level of ERK-CREB with intracellular signaling mechanisms increased in a concentration-dependent manner. Therefore, it suggests that sucralose is associated with functional foods for the prevention of functional food patients.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.642-651
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• 2013

This study sought to evaluate the daily intakes of sodium saccharin and sucralose for individuals in Korea with average and high levels of consumption of both these substances. The estimated daily intake of both sweeteners was determined from analytical data and dietary intake data collected as part of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey. Analysis of the data showed that sodium saccharin was found in 53 (15.6%) of 339 processed foods analyzed, whereas sucralose was found in 141 (23.9%) of 590 processed foods analyzed. The average intake of sodium saccharin was 1.18% of the acceptable daily intake (ADI) defined by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert committee on Food Additives (JECFA). The average intake of sucralose was 0.55% of ADI. The 95th percentile intakes of sodium saccharin and sucralose were 5.29% and 15.66% of ADI, respectively. Children 6 years old and younger consumed more sodium saccharin and sucralose than did children from any of the other age groups tested. In conclusion, the average daily intakes of sodium saccharin and sucralose within members of the Korean population fall within safe levels.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.307-312
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• 2014

Chocolate is restricted for obese and diabetic patients due to high in sugar contents. We investigated shell-chocolate fillings with low calorie content and low glycemic indexes using alternative sweeteners such as tagatose and xylose and adding coffee grounds. Chocolate filling was made with sugar, cacao and butter in the original recipe. Sugar was substituted with tagatose or xylose and 3% coffee ground was added in each chocolate filling and substituted for 3% of the cocoa. Water retention and spreadability of the chocolate filling was significantly higher in the tagatose+coffee ground group in comparison to the sugar. In the chromaticity test, chocolate filling made with tagatose was darker in comparison to that made with sugar: brightness (L) was lower and redness (a) and yellowness (b) were higher than the sugar filling. Sensory evaluation revealed that chocolate filling made with tagatose had high score in 4 categories such as taste, smell, texture of foreign substance, overall acceptance. After consuming 60 g of the chocolate with different fillings, blood glucose levels of subjects at 1 and 2 h were significantly lower in the tagatose and tagatose+coffee ground groups than the other groups. In conclusion, using tagatose as the sweetener in chocolate filling has a beneficial effect on lowering blood glucose levels and increasing water retention, spreadability and sensory scores. Coffee ground did not have additive effect on quality of chocolate filling and blood glucose levels. These results indicate that shell chocolate made with tagatose can be used as a snack for diabetic patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.604-611
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to assess the consumption of aspartame and acesulfame K, the most frequently utilized artificial sweeteners in Korea. The contents of aspartame and acesulfame K in processed foodstuffs were analyzed by HPLC, and daily intakes according to sex and age were estimated by applying the consumption data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Estimated daily intakes of aspartame and acesulfame K were 58.37 ${\mu}g/kg$ bw/day and 14.23 ${\mu}g/kg$ bw/day, respectively, in 2012. These amounts constituted 0.15% and 0.09% of the ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) established by the JECFA (FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives). Estimated daily intakes of aspartame and acesulfame K in the 95 percentile consumption group were 2,510.48 ${\mu}g/kg$ bw/day and 761.92 ${\mu}g/kg$ bw/day, respectively, and intake levels were 6.28% and 5.08% of the ADI, respectively. In conclusion, daily intake levels of artificial sweeteners were evaluated to be at safe levels.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.169-175
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• 2016

Saccharin (o-benzoic sulfimide) is the first artificial and non-caloric sweetener that was first synthesized in 1879. In this study, we examined the biological activity of saccharin against various human cancer cell lines and human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. A viability assay based on the conversion of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) was performed to test for the cytotoxicity of saccharin about the four human cancer cell lines (H460, H157, A549 and SKOV3), one murine cancer cellline (Raw264.7), and MSCs. In order to find the differentially expressed gene in saccharin-treated MSCs against untreated MSCs, we performed annealing control primer (ACP)-based differential display reverse transcriptionp-olymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR). All tested cells were treated with saccharin at various concentrations (0.0, 4.8, 7.2, 9.6, 12.0, 14.4 mg/mL) for 48 hr. The number of metabolically active cancer cells decreased when treated with the saccharin at various concentrations for 48 hr as compared with the untreated cells. The decrease in cell survival was more evident with increasing concentrations of saccharin. Moreover, novel candidate genes, which were differentially expressed in MSCs in response to saccharin, were identified in 16 bands on 2% agarose gel. This revealed 16-7 up-regulated and 9 down-regulated-differentially expressed genes indicated by arrows. One of these candidate genes was a FK506-binding protein gene. The functional roles of FK506 binding proteins, with respect to the activities of stem cell proliferation, were not characterized. Further studies are required to get a better understanding of FK506-binding proteins in its roles in increasing stem cell proliferative activities from using saccharin.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.87-93
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• 2017

The objective of this study was to investigate the physicochemical characteristics and sensory evaluation of dacquoise made with sugar or sugar replacement (tagatose, erythritol). Sugar (S) was replaced with tagatose (T), and sugar powder was replaced with tagatose (TS), and erythritol (TE). S showed the highest sugar contents compared with TS and TE (p <0.05) but there were no significant differences with T. There were not significant differences in specific gravity and spread factor among the sweeteners. S and T tended to have higher loss factors than TS & TE. The more tagatose was increased, the more the redness value increased compared with S, and sucrose showed similar tendency for lightness (redness; TS > T > TE > S, lightness; S > T > TS > TE). TE showed good results for physical characteristics whereas T was better in the sensory test. The above results bear out that tagatose and erythritol both are suitable as alternative sweeteners for making dacquoise, but tagatose was better. Tagatose appeared to be a better replacement for sucrose in baking dacquoise, and dacquoise with 33% of the sugar replaced tagatose (T) could be suitable for use by diabetic and obese people. 95.1% tagatose (TS) maybe appropriate for diabetic patients. In conclusion, tagatose is a suitable sugar replacement for making dacquoise.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.205-211
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• 2018

Rebaudioside A is a natural sweetener isolated from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, one of the glycosides based on steviol. Recent studies have shown that rebaudioside A inhibits the inflammatory response by inhibiting cytokines secretion such as interleukin-$1{\alpha}/1{\beta}$ in activated RAW264.7 mouse macrophage cells by LPS. However, the inhibitory mechanism of inflammation by rebaudioside A in the presence of LPS has not been fully elucidated. Therefore, in this study, we tried to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of rebaudioside A at the protein level when RAW264.7 cells were stimulated by LPS. The inducible nitric oxide synthase protein expression level was reduced in the group treated with $250{\mu}M$ rebaudioside A compared to the LPS-treated group. In addition, the mRNA expression level of $NF-{\kappa}B$, which is a representative nuclear transcription factor by inflammatory signal, was also decreased as compared with that of LPS-treated group. In addition, $NF-{\kappa}B$ and inhibitor-${\kappa}B$ ($I-{\kappa}B$) complexes that are known to be dissociated by $I-{\kappa}B$ phosphorylation and ubiquitination were less phosphorylated than LPS treated group in the presence rebaudioside A. Finally, we could find that rebaudioside A was involved in the $NF-{\kappa}B$ pathway through reducing extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2 phosphorylation in a concentration-dependent manner. These results suggest that rebaudioside A might suppress inflammatory reaction through MAPK and $NF-{\kappa}B$ regulation in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1218-1225
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• 2009

Difractose anhydrides (DFAs) is studied as a sweetener for diabetics because of its structural property. DFAs have four types: DFA I, III, IV (degradation of levan) and V (degradation of inulin). Especially, DFA IV has been shown to enhance the absorption of calcium in experiments using rats. Levan fructotransferase is an enzyme for producing di-d-fructose-2,6':6,2-dianhydride (DFA IV). To identify structural characterization, we purified wild-type and mutants (D63A, D195N and N85S) of levan fructotransferase (LFTase) from Microbacterium sp. AL-210. These proteins were purified to apparent homogeneity by Ni-NTA affinity column, Q-sepharose ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography and detected by SDS-PAGE. They were also analyzed by circular dichroism (CD) measurements, JNET secondary structure prediction, activity measurements at various temperatures, and pH analysis. The optimum pH for the enzyme-catalyzed reaction was pH 7.5 and optimum temperature was observed at $55^{\circ}C$. Along with wild-type LFTase, mutants were analyzed by CD measurement, fluorescence analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). N85S showed less $\alpha$-helix and more $\beta$ strand than others. Also, N85S showed almost the same curve as wild-type in their steady-state fluorescence spectra, whereas mutant D63A and D195N showed higher intensity than wild-type. The amino acid sequence of wild-type LFTase was compared to the sequences of exo-inulinase from Aspergillus awamori, a plant fructan 1-exohydrolase from Cichorium intybus, and Thermotogo maritime (Tm) invertase and showed a high identity with Exo-inulinase from Aspergillus awamori.