• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.330-336
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• 2015

Polycan originating from Aureobasidium pullulans is mostly composed of β-1, 3/1, 6 glucans and possesses an anti-osteoporotic effect. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to examine the efficacy and safety of the polycan on bone biochemical markers in healthy perimenopausal women. Sixty subjects were randomly allocated to 2 groups-group 1 received 400 mg of polycan and group 2 received placebo-these were administered once daily for 28 days. Fasting blood and urine samples were collected at baseline and 4 weeks after treatment. The primary outcome was change in osteocalcin (OSC) and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP). Changes in calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), C-telopeptide of collagen cross-links (CTx), N-telopeptide of collagen cross-links (NTx), and deoxypyridinoline (DPYR) were the secondary outcomes. A safety assessment was performed using adverse event (AE) and laboratory data. After 4 weeks of polycan treatment, OSC, DPYR, and BALP levels changed (P < 0.05) significantly from baseline in both groups. However, no significant differences were observed in any markers between the 2 groups, except for P (P < 0.05). Interestingly, group 2 showed a significant increase in CTx (65.2%, P < 0.05), while CTx in group 1 slightly increased (17.2%). Both groups showed no significant differences in AE. Although 4 weeks of polycan treatment did not have a statistically significant effect on bone metabolism biomarkers, increases in CTx were modestly inhibited by polycan. Further studies in a large population and longer treatment periods are needed to confirm the effect of polycan on bone turnover.

• Journal of Ginseng Culture
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• v.6
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• pp.13-34
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• 2024

The abolishment of the red ginseng monopoly act by the Korean government in 1996 resulted in a drastic change in the Korean ginseng industry, leading to a significant increase in the market size and consumption of ginseng products. Red ginseng is most popular type, with approximately 74% of harvested fresh ginseng being processed into various red ginseng products. Since 1997, there has been a substantial increase in the cultivation of ginseng for production of red ginseng, which, in turn, has contributed to the proliferation of ginseng processing companies. To investigate the products of ginseng manufacturing businesses, we select 200 companies primarily engaged in ginseng processing or specializing solely in ginseng. Our survey on the status of ginseng industry covered 8 different categories. 1) Root ginseng: There were 66 companies involved in manufacturing red ginseng root, accounting for 33.0% of all surveyed companies. This was followed by black ginseng root with 36 companies (18.0%) and red ginseng fine roots with 22 companies (11%). 2) Red ginseng products: A total of 144 companies were involved in manufacturing red ginseng pouches, making it the most common product category. This was closely followed by 142 companies producing pure(100%) red ginseng extract concentrate. 3) Fermented red ginseng products: Companies producing fermented red ginseng extract concentrate products were the most numerous, totaling 26. Following this, companies producing fermented red ginseng stick and pouch products were next in line. 4) Ginseng products: There were 15 companies involved in the production of ginseng products, with the majority focusing on ginseng tea. 5) Black ginseng products: Companies producing black ginseng extract concentrate were the most numerous, with 31 companies, followed by 26 companies producing black ginseng extract pouches. 6) Taegeuk ginseng products: Only 5 companies were involved in the production of taegeuk ginseng products. 7) Fermented black ginseng, and 8) Ginseng berry products: These categories are manufactured by less than 5 companies each. However, the variety in ginseng berry products suggests the potential for future growth. In the 2000s, a trend emerged with the development of new processed products aimed at enhancing the functional components of red ginseng, and these products have captured the attention of consumers. However, this study primarily focuses on black ginseng, fermented red ginseng/fermented black ginseng, and ginseng berry products as they have exerted a significant influence on the overall ginseng industry.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.238-246
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• 2015

A unicellular red microalga was isolated from environmental freshwater in Korea, and its morphological, molecular, and biochemical properties were characterized. Morphological analysis revealed that the isolate was a unicellular biflagellated green microalga that formed a non-motile, thick-walled palmelloid or red aplanospore. To determine the taxonomical position of the isolate, its 18S rRNA and rbcL genes were sequenced and phylogenetic analysis was performed. We found that the isolate was clustered together with other related Haematococcus strains showing differences in the rbcL gene. Therefore, the isolated microalga was classified into the genus Haematococcus, and finally designated Haematococcus sp. KORDI03. The microalga could be cultivated in various culture media under a broad range of pH and temperature conditions. Compositions of the microalgal cellular components were analyzed, and its protein, carbohydrate, and lipid compositions were estimated to be 21.1 ± 0.2%, 48.8 ± 1.8%, and 22.2 ± 0.9%, respectively. In addition, D-glucose and D-mannose were the dominant monosaccharides in the isolate, and its amino acids were composed mainly of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, alanine, and leucine. Moreover, several polyunsaturated fatty acids accounted for about 80% of the total fatty acids in Haematococcus sp. KORDI03, and the astaxanthin content in the red aplanospores was estimated to be 1.8% of the dry cell weight. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an Haematococcus sp. isolated from Korea, which may be used for bioresource production in the microalgal industry.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1413-1420
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• 2014

Phytate is an antinutritional factor that impacts the bioavailability of essential minerals such as $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, and $Fe^{2+}$ by forming insoluble mineral-phytate salts. These insoluble mineral-phytate salts are hydrolyzed rarely by monogastric animals, because they lack the hydrolyzing phytases and thus excrete the majority of them. The ${\beta}$-propeller phytases (BPPs) hydrolyze these insoluble mineral-phytate salts efficiently. In this study, we cloned a novel BPP gene from a marine Pseudomonas sp. This Pseudomonas BPP gene (PsBPP) had low sequence identity with other known phytases and contained an extra internal repeat domain (residues 24-279) and a typical BPP domain (residues 280-634) at the C-terminus. Structure-based sequence alignment suggested that the N-terminal repeat domain did not possess the active-site residues, whereas the C-terminal BPP domain contained multiple calcium-binding sites, which provide a favorable electrostatic environment for substrate binding and catalytic activity. Thus, we overexpressed the BPP domain from Pseudomonas sp. to potentially hydrolyze insoluble mineral-phytate salts. Purified recombinant PsBPP required $Ca^{2+}$ or $Fe^{2+}$ for phytase activity, indicating that PsBPP hydrolyzes insoluble $Fe^{2+}$-phytate or $Ca^{2+}$-phytate salts. The optimal temperature and pH for the hydrolysis of $Ca^{2+}$-phytate by PsBPP were $50^{\circ}C$ and 6.0, respectively. Biochemical and kinetic studies clearly showed that PsBPP efficiently hydrolyzed $Ca^{2+}$-phytate salts and yielded myo-inositol 2,4,6-trisphosphate and three phosphate groups as final products. Finally, we showed that PsBPP was highly effective for hydrolyzing rice bran with high phytate content. Taken together, our results suggest that PsBPP has great potential in the animal feed industry for reducing phytates.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.9-13
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• 2008

Salmonella enterica serotype gallinarum biovar Gallinarum or Pullorum and Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis are the most important diseases in poultry industry. Transitional diagnosis methods of these diseases such as direct isolation and identification by a biochemical test are time consuming with low specificity. In this study, we have focused on the suitable procedure for the rapid and accurate diagnosis of diseases derived from the three Salmonella strains. We initially confirmed Salmonella species by PCR using a specific ITSF/ITSR primer pair instead of biochemical test, and then the PCR-amplified phase 1 flagellin (fliC) using a specific fliCF/fliCR primer pair was digested with a restriction endonuclease, Bpm I and/or Bfa I, to discriminate among S. Pullorum, S. Gallinarum, and S. Enteritidis. We found that these methods could be applied to field isolates of the three Salmonella strains to detect and to discriminate rapidly for convenient diagnosis.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.305-309
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• 2015

In order to isolate compost-promoting bacteria with high activity of cellulase and xylanase, spent mushroom substrates with sawdust were collected from mushroom cultivation farm, Jinju, Gyeongnam in Korea. Among of the isolates, one strain, designated CA105 was selected by agar diffusion method. The strain CA105 was identified as members of the Bacillus subtilis by biochemical characteristics using VITEK 2 system. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that isolate CA105 formed a distinct phylogenetic tree within the genus Bacillus and was most closely related to Bacillus subtilis with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 98.9%. On the basis of its physiological properties, biochemical characteristics and phylogenetic distinctiveness, isolate CA105 was classified within the genus Bacillus subtilis, for which the name Bacillus subtilis CA105 is proposed. The cellulase and xylanase activity of B. subtilis CA105 was slightly increased according to bacterial population from exponential phase to stationary phase in growth curve for Bacillus sp. CA105.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.271-277
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• 2017

Ethyl formate has been used for the control of insect pests by fumigation. However, there were not many reports to show its target site of fumigant toxicity on insect pests since its first use in the agricultural industry. In the present study, we showed the presumable target sites of ethyl formate fumigation in insect pests using Myzus persicae nymphs. After ethyl formate fumigation, the nymphs of this species were collected and the changes at the biochemical and molecular level were determined. The activity of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) was approximately two-fold higher after ethyl formate fumigation. In addition, the expression levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) decreased gradually with increasing ethyl formate concentration. These two findings suggested that COX and AChE might be the major target sites of ethyl formate fumigation. In addition to these results, the analysis of lipid content using MALDI-TOF MS/MS identified 9 phospholipids differently generated 2-fold higher in the ethyl formate-treated nymphs than that in the control nymphs, thereby leading to changes in cell membrane composition in M. persicae nymphs. Therefore, the ethyl formate fumigation caused lethal effects on M. persicae nymphs by changing COX activity, AChE gene expression, and phospholipid production.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.903-915
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• 2011

Recently, anaerobic methane production of agricultural waste biomass has received increasing attention. Until now domestic BMP (Biochemical methane potential) studies concerned with agricultural waste biomass have concentrated on the several waste biomass such as livestock manure, food waste, and sewage sludge from WWTP (Waste water treatment plant). Especially, the lack of standardization study of BMP assay method has caused the confused comprehension and interpretation in the comparison of BMP results from various researchers. Germany and USA had established the standard methods, VDI 4630 and ASTM E2170-01, for the analysis of BMP and anaerobic organic degradation, respectively. In this review, BMP was defined in the aspect of organic material represented as COD (Chemical oxygen demand) and VS (Volatile solid), and the influence of several parameters on the methane potential of the feedstock was presented. In the investigation of domestic BMP case studies, BMP results of 18 biomass species generating from agriculture and agro-industry were presented. And BMP results of crop species reported from foreign case studies were presented according to the classification system of crops such as food crop, vegetables, oil seed and specialty crop, orchards, and fodder and energy crop. This review emphasizes the urgent need for characterizing the innumerable kind of biomass by their capability on methane production.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.415-427
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• 2021

It is generally recognized that high stocking density can increase the risk of immune dysfunction and reduction in productivity cause of elevated stress in broiler farm. The domestic livestock industry is implementing a certification system for animal welfare and livestock farms to reduce the problem of dense breeding. This study compared broiler from the general farm and animal welfare farm to confirm the effectiveness of animal welfare farms against stress. Gas concentrations in a farm of general and animal welfare farms were analyzed, blood (n=10) of the 28-day-old broiler was collected, the partial pressure of the gas in the blood was analyzed using whole blood, and biochemical factors and hormones were analyzed using the serum. Glycogen and L-lactate are analyzed using ELISA kit on finely pulverized muscles (n=10). CO₂ and NH₃ levels in the farm were significantly higher in general farm. Partial carbon dioxide tension (PCO₂) in blood was significantly higher and partial oxygen tension (PO₂) was significantly lower in the general farm. Creatinine (CREA), glucose (GLU), aspartateaminotransferase (AST), and creatinekinase (CK) in the blood were significantly higher in the general farm, and total protein (TP) and globulin (GLOB) were significantly higher in animal welfare farm. Blood corticosterone and norepinephrine were significantly higher in general farm and epinephrine was significantly higher in animal welfare farm. These results imply that animal welfare farm provides a stress-reduced breeding environment.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2023

This study evaluated the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of primary sludge, secondary sludge, and food waste in batch anaerobic mono-digestion tests, and investigated the effects of mixture ratio of those organic wastes on methane yield and production rate in batch anaerobic co-digestion tests, that were designed based on a simplex mixture design method. The BMP of primary sludge, secondary sludge and food waste were determined as 234.2, 172.7, and 379.1 mL CH₄/g COD, respectively. The relationships between the mixing ratio of those organic wastes with methane yield and methane production rate were successfully expressed in special cubic models. Both methane yield and methane production rate were estimated as higher when the mixture ratio of food waste was higher. At a mixing ratio of 0.5 and 0.5 for primary sludge and food waste, the methane yield of 297.9 mL CH₄/g COD was expected; this was 19.4% higher than that obtained at a mixing ratio of 0.3333, 0.3333 and 0.3333 for primary sludge, secondary sludge, and food waste (249.5 mL CH₄/g COD). These findings could be useful when designing field-scale anaerobic digersters for mono- and co-digestion of sewage sludges and food waste.