• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.233-235
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• 1998

Energized-functional water (EFW) and powder (EFP) were manufactured by Kyungwon Institute of Life Science, Seoul, through a series of processes; tap water ultra-purification energy imprinting with catalysts in platinum columns mixing energy-imprinted water + activated zeolites + photosynthetic bacteria fermenting at $25^{\circ}C$ filtering EFW and/or EFP. A single application of EFP to soil under tree canopy before bud burst, combined with three EFW applications to soil during growth of 'Fuji' apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) resulted in a higher Ca concentrations in fruit skins and flesh, and lower Ca and N concentrations in leaves and shoot-bark tissues. EFW also stimulated the net photosynthesis of leaves and root activity. Soluble solid concentrations (SSC) and anthocyanin levels of fruits were also significantly increased at harvest, producing greater firmness and less core browning during storage at $0^{\circ}C$. However, there was no significant difference in titratable acidity of fruit juice between the EFW treatment and the controls.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1298-1303
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• 2015

Machilus thunbergii (Lauraceae) is an evergreen tree cultivated in Korea and Japan. M. thunbergii has long been used as a traditional medicine in Korea, China, and Japan to treat various diseases, including edema, abdominal pain, and abdominal distension. In this study, dried stem bark of M. thunbergii extracted in methanol and extract was partitioned into n-hexane, CHCl₃, and BuOH. The CHCl₃-soluble extracts chromatographed on silica gel column using a CHCl₃/acetone and n-hexane/EtOAc mixture to afford Compound 1 and 2. Two dibenzylbutane lignans, macelignan (1) and meso-dihydroguaiaretic acid (2), were isolated from the CHCl₃-soluble extract of M. thunbergii stem bark. The structures of 1 and 2 were determined by ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopic data analyses and a comparison with literature data. The tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the isolated compounds was evaluated. Among these compounds, Compound 2 strongly inhibited the monophenolase (IC₅₀=10.2 μM) activity of tyrosinase. A kinetic analysis showed that Compound 2 was a competitive inhibitor. The apparent inhibition constant (K_i) for Compound 2 binding to free enzyme was 4.8 μM. Based on these results, it can be concluded that meso-dihydroguaiaretic acid (2) is a potential candidate for the treatment of melanin biosynthesis-related skin diseases.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.537-548
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of 9 kinds of medicinal plants against crown gall in grapevine. The medicinal plants extracted with several solvent systems were screened for in vitro antibacterial activity by the disc diffusion method. The ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts from magic lily flowers, tachys roots, asian plantain flowers and seeds, sweet wormwood leaves, stems and flowers, immature bitter melon fruits, cockscomb flowers, and peach tree resin showed in vitro antimicrobial activities against Rhizobium vitis with growth inhibition zones ranging from 10 to 27 mm in diameter. The minimum inhibitory concentration values of extracts against R.vitis ranged from 10,000 in Asian plantain flower and 50,000 fold diluted extracts in sweet wormwood flowers, stems, leaves, cockscomb leaves and immature bitter melon fruits. The active fractions of ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts from the medicinal plants were partially separated through silica gel column chromatography and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The active fractions were separated at Rf 0.36, 0.69, 0.75, 0.84, and 0.94 in sweet wormwood extracts, Rf 0.96 and 0.99 in cockscomb flower extracts, Rf 0.92 and 0.97 in cockscomb leaf extracts, and Rf 0.85 in immature bitter melon fruit extracts in TLC analysis developed with hexane:ethyl acetate (20:80, v/v) and methanol:chloroform (20:80, v/v). Among extracts from plants with in vitro antimicrobial activities, sweet wormwood, cockscomb leaves, and immature bitter melon fruits showed in vivo antimicrobial activities with inhibition activity of 100, 67, and 83.3%, respectively, in 'Kyoho' grapevine inoculated with R. vitis compared with the untreated control. These findings indicate that extracts of medicinal plants could be used as sustainable candidates to control crown gall disease caused by R. vitis in grapevines.