• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 2018

To study the effect of natural anti-microbial chemicals on the growth and quality of chili peppers, chitosan ($100mg/L^{-1}$), stevia ($250mg/L^{-1}$), and the mixture of both chemicals at the same concentration were sprayed after planting at 1-week interval throughout the experimental period. Plant height was measured twice after the $3^{rd}$ and $4^{th}$ applications. Plant height was numerically reduced in all chemical treatments compared to that of untreated control; however, there was no statistical difference between treatments. The fruit quality was examined at commercial maturity, and only minor differences were found in fruit color, length, and dry matter content between the treatments. Although a statistical difference was not present for soluble sugars levels, total phenolics, and capsaicin contents, yield in all chemical treatments significantly increased compared to untreated control. The effect on yield increase was greater at the late harvest season regardless of treatments. Total yield of 4 harvests was higher for the chitosan treatment than other treatments. During the experiment, the entire experimental field was waterlogged for 1 day due to sudden heavy rainfall, which resulted in the occurrence of bacterial browning disease in all treatments. The rate of disease occurrence and the degree of severity, however, were much lower in the chitosan treatment. In conclusion, the potential of chitosan as an alternative antimicrobial agent was confirmed in chili peppers in this study. Further research is required on stevia as an alternative chemical for disease control in chili peppers.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.834-844
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• 2014

Postharvest browning of mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) reduces the shelf life of harvested mushrooms. Here, mushrooms were dipped in various solutions (distilled water; DW, 0.25% rice bran extract; RB, 0.1% ascorbic acid; AA, RB + AA) for 3 min. After air-drying at room temperature, the dipped mushrooms were packaged in a polypropylene (PP) films and stored at 4 or $15^{\circ}C$. The quality changes of mushrooms were measured in terms of color, gas composition, firmness, and sensory evaluation during storage. Rice bran extract was measured for total polyphenol content, total flavonoid content, DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging, chelating activity and PPO inhibition activity. No difference in firmness were found in the mushroom samples regardless of dipping solution or storage temperature. At both 4 and $15^{\circ}C$ storage temperatures, RB + AA solution-dipped samples showed the highest L value and lowest delta E value. During the storage period, sensory evaluation showed that overall acceptability of mushrooms treated with RB and RB + AA solution was higher than that of the untreated mushrooms. Total polyphenol and flavonoid contents of 0.25% rice bran extract were $36.42mg\;GAE{\cdot}g^{-1}$ and $4.85mg\;QE{\cdot}g^{-1}$, respectively. The DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity of 0.1% ascorbic acid was higher than that of 0.25% rice bran extract. The highest copper ($Cu^{2+}$) chelating activity was found in the 0.25% rice bran extract. The PPO inhibition activity of 0.1% ascorbic acid was higher than that of 0.25% rice bran extract. Our results suggest that 0.25% rice bran extract with 0.1% ascorbic acid is effective anti-browning agent for maintaining quality of Agaricus bisporus during storage.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.394-401
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• 2020

As embryonic stem cells become pluripotent, they may cause tumor development when injected into a host. Therefore, researchers are focusing heavily on the therapeutic potential of tissue-specific stem cells (adult stem cells) without resultant tumor formation. Adult stem cells can proliferate for a limited number of generations and are restricted to certain cell types (multipotent). Mature tissue cell types in mammals cannot be intrinsically dedifferentiated or transdifferentiated to adult stem cells. Hence, the technology of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for reprogramming adult somatic cells was introduced in 2006, ushering in a new era in adult stem cell research. Although iPSCs have been widely used in the field, the approach has several limitations: instability of the reprogramming process, risk of incomplete reprogramming, and exposure to transgenes integrated into the cell genome. Two years before the introduction of the iPSC technique, the synthetic small molecule 2,6-disubstituted purine, called reversine, was introduced. Reversine can induce the dedifferentiation of committed cells into multipotent progenitor-type cells by reprogramming and converting adult cells to other cell types under appropriate stimuli. Thus, it can be used as a chemically induced multipotent cell agent to overcome the limitations of iPSCs. Also, as an alternative therapeutic approach for treating obesity, it can be used to generate beige cells by browning white adipocytes. While reversine has the potential to act as an anti-cancer agent, this review focuses on its role in differentiation, dedifferentiation, and transdifferentiation in somatic cells.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.526-532
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• 2013

In this study, we investigated the effect of 88 marine algae extracts on melanin synthesis to develop new whitening agents. Among varieties of marine algae tested, the ethyl acetate extracts from Endarachne binghamiae (EB), Scytosiphon lomentaria, Sargassum yezoense, Ecklonia cava and Sargassum fusiforme inhibited melanin synthesis in melan-a cells. EB treatment showed the strongest inhibitory activity in melanin synthesis, compared with that of other extracts. EB-mediated inhibition of melanin synthesis appeared to be associated with inhibition of ${\alpha}$-glucosidase-dependent glycosylation of tyrosinase in melan-a cells. In addition, EB treatment did not affect mushroom tyrosinase or cell-extracted tyrosinase activity in vitro. Taken together, our findings suggest that anti-browning effect of EB on skin is mediated through regulation of ${\alpha}$-glucosidase activity and subsequent inhibition of tyrosinase activity and melanin synthesis, and further development of EB as a potential agent for skin whitening.