• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.89 no.2
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• pp.216-222
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• 2000

Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim.) Harms is a tree species that has been traditionally used as a source for oriental folk medicine. It is known to contain both Eeleutheroside E and chlorogenic acid. These two compounds are believed to be effective elements in the tree. In the present study, we analyzed the levels of the two compounds from the plants collected from various locations in Korea to find out whether environment affected the quantity of both compounds in the tissue. When the plants growing in their natural habitats and those growing in plantations were compared, the level of the two compounds showed different pattern. In the case of chlorogenic acid in roots, the plants growing in plantations are found to contain higher levels than did those from natural habitats. On the other hand, higher levels of eleutheroside E were found in the plants from natural habitats. However, when the compounds in the stems were compared, the plants growing in the natural habitats contained higher level in both compounds than did those from plantations. Although the level of both compounds in the leaf tissue varied with the places from which they were originated, it appeared to be less than that found in roots or stems. There exists a tendency that the level of eleutheroside E showed a positive correlation with the diameter of both roots and stems of the plants.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.456-460
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• 2008

Santalum album has been used as a folk medicine for treatment of skin diseases, inflammation, gonorrhea, gleet, and cystitis in India and other Asian countries. In a search for possible bioactive agents from natural sources, we found that the various solvent extracts of S. album showed significant antioxidative effect in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity test and moderate other biological functions submitted to the several bioassay systems for whitening and cytotoxicity evaluations. Among the tested extracts displayed DPPH radical scavenging activity, and the 70% acetone extract showed the most potent activity with an $IC_{50}$ value of $18.6\;{\mu}g/ml$, more potent than a positive control, L-ascorbic acid ($IC_{50}$, $28.7\;{\mu}g/mL$). Also, anti-lipid peroxidation, tyrosinase inhibitory, and cytotoxic effects were determined in each experiment. Total phenolic content of 70% acetone extract was found to be 117.1 mg equivalent of gallic acid per g of extract. Previous phytochemical investigation reveals the presence of phenolic compounds. The results indicate that S. album possess potential antioxidant activity and phenolic constituents are responsible for this capacity.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.66-93
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• 1979

Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, which has been known for more than EWO years. occupies a Particular prince in folk medicine as so called tonic remedy. The pharmacolgical investigations of ginseng, based on the scientific concepts and methodology, have been performed by many researchers through the past 50∼60 years at different parts of the world. The pharmacological action of Panax ginseng compiled from the numerous reports can be summarized as follows: 1. On central nervous system, the effect of Panax ginseng is timulatory in smaller doses and somewhat depressive in larger doses. From the psychopharmacological aspect, ginseng seems to increase the mental efficiency of man. 2. Ginseng has the effect tending to Protect organism from various physical and chemical stresses. 3. The growth and basal metabolic rates of experimental animals are stimulated by ginseng. Ginseng also prolongs the survival time of animals under adverse influences. 4. Increasing the physical and mental efficiency, ginseng postpones the onset of fatigue and increases the working capacities. 5. In the case of the intravenous administration of ginseng, a transitory and slight hypotensive effect is observed. These hypotensive effects seems to include that of a direct action and actions related to the release of histamine and/or serotonin by ginseng. 6. It is Presumed that ginseng lowers the elevated bleed ingar and cholesterol level. 7. Ginseng tends to increase the gastrointestinal motizity and tone 8. It is presumed that ginseng Promotes the iron metabolism and activates the hematopoietic factors. 9. Ginseng tends to stimulate the biosynthesis of nucleic acid and release of histamine and serotonin. 10. The toxicity end adverse reactions of ginseng appear to be nothing that warrants apprehension. 11. Anticancer erects of ginseng seem to be due to indirect action rather than direct action on cancer cell, by improving the host condition 12. Recent clinical trials of ginseng harts obtained sent good results, but Present trial is still limited in its range, so it is necessary to broaden the scope of trial covering many kinds of organs and diseases. From the above, although it appears that substantial advancements have been achieved in the studies on the Pharmacological actions of Panax ginseng there are many discrepancies noticed in the reported data. Furthermore the precise mechanisms of actions of ginseng are sometimes obscure, even unknown in other actions as the students stand now. The main reasons for this are considered to be that even though saponin has been identified at one of the active substances of ginseng, other components have not fully been identified and that the experimental approaches of the investigations varied with different researchers. Thus a thorough analysis of the chemical components and newer standardized concepts and metohds appear to be the pre-requisites for further study of the pharmacolgical effects and mechaisms of Panax ginseng.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.795-801
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• 2017

Aralia elata Seemann (AE) has long been used as a folk medicine for the treatment of various diseases including diabetes mellitus, anti-arthritic, and anti-gastric ulcer agent in Korea, Japan, and China. This study was performed to establish a simple and reliable HPLC/UV analytical method for determination of most active anti-hypertensive compound, a 3-O-${\alpha}$-L-rhamnopyranosyl($1{\rightarrow}$2)-${\alpha}$-L-arabinopyranosyl hederagenin 28-O-${\beta}$-D-xylopyranosyl($1{\rightarrow}6$)-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranosylester (HE) for the standardization of the shoot extract of AE as a health functional food ingredient. The quantitative analytical method of HE was optimized by HPLC analysis using reverse-phase C18 column at $40^{\circ}C$ with $H_2O$ and acetonitrile (70:30, v/v) as an isocratic mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and detection wavelength of UV 205 nm. This HPLC/UV analytical method showed good specificity and high linearity in the tested range of 0.03125-2.0mg/ml with excellent coefficient of determination ($R^2$) of 0.9999. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were $12.0{\mu}g/mL$ and $36.5{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. Relative standard deviation (RSD) values of data from intra- and inter-day precision were less than 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. These results indicate that the established HPLC/UV analytical method is very simple, specific, precise, accurate, and reproducible and thus can be useful for the quantitative analysis of HE as a functional anti-hypertensive compound in AE extract.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.465-472
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• 2012

We examined plants that were used as temple food in Jeju from May 2011 to January 2012. Thirty-six temples participated in the study, and there were 58 questionnaire respondents. Fifty-seven taxa were used as temple food, which belonged to 27 families, 51 genera, 55 species, and two varieties. The most commonly used family-based taxa were eight species of Compositae, six species of Cruciferae, and four species of Umbelliferae. Ten species of woody plants and 25 species of Jeju native plants were also used as temple food. The most useful part was the leaf, followed by the root, leaflet, and fruit. A patent search showed that most of the surveyed plants were covered by intellectual property rights. Forty-eight species had food-related patents, 34 species had cosmetics-related patents, and 38 species had medicine-related patents. The purchase and procurement of Jeju temple food plants usually depended on the market or plant cultivation rather than the use of the plants. Gathering of wild herbs for temple food has been performed on a limited basis. Therefore, collecting traditional knowledge for the use of Jeju plant resources should be conducted under different conditions rather than through a temple-related study.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.896-902
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• 2003

The present study was carried out to investigate the antiobesity effects of Platycodon grndiflorum extract on body weight changes and serum lipid composition of rats fed high fat diet. The Platycodon grandiflorum has been widely used as a folk food in the Orient for many centuries. We had experiment with Platycodon grandiflorum extract in order to find cure effects for obesty. The changes of the body weights in Platycodon ggrandiflorum extract treatment group showed a decrease in comparison with control group. Weekly body weights of PG group are respectively 243.7$\pm$2.0g, 283.5$\pm$4.3 g, 310.5$\pm$6.5 g, 333.2$\pm$7.5 g, 361.0$\pm$10.4 g, 390.5$\pm$11.5 g, 436.0$\pm$11.8 g, 454.4$\pm$11.4 g, 484.4$\pm$10.1 g. Body weight of PC groups are decreased compared with those of control group, but the rates are not significant. Total cholesterol of PG group(77.2$\pm$3.3 mg/dl) is decreased by 7.0% compared with that of control group. Serum triglyceride of PG group(103.6$\pm$9.0mg/dl) is decreased by 21.1% compared with that of control group. Serum free fatty acid of PG group(630.1$\pm$45.9 $\mu$Eq/l) is decreased by 19.6% .compared with that of control group. Total lipid amount of PG group(393.6$\pm$23.7 mg/dl) is decreased by 9.1% compared with that of control group. The above results suggest that Platycodon grandiflorum extract could prevent or cure metabolic diseases by preventing hyperlipemia caused by high fat diet.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.865-870
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• 2003

Opuntia ficus-indica is widely used as folk medicine for burned wound, edema and indigestion, etc. After the adaptation of rats for seven days, OF (200mg/kg) was administered into rats intraperitoneally every day for two weeks. On the 14th day, $3.3m\ell$ of $CCl_4$ (50% $CCl_4$ : Olive oil = 1 : 1) was treated to rats and on the 15th day, they were operated. We measured the levels of total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, total lipid and triglyceride (TG) in serum and Malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver tissue. Opuntia ficus-indica and $CCl_4$-treated group (OFC) significantly decreased lipid peroxidation by 32.6% compared to $CCl_4$-treated abnomal group (CTA). Total lipid and TC of OFC administered group were lower than those of CTA group. Cholesterol levels showed significant effect in OFC group. Total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in OFC administered group were decreased by 12.7% and 17.4%, respectively, compared to those of CTA group. HDL-cholesterol in OFC administration group was increased by 19.7% compared to CTA group. This finding suggests that lipid peroxidation was inhibited in the significant level when $CCl_4$-induced rats were treated with OF. Based on this analysis, further study to identify the active components in this sample is warranted.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.647-652
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• 2006

Plants of the genus Dioscorea have long been used as oriental folk medicine, and Dioscorea batatas Decne has been cultivated for healthy food in Korea. Although the bulbils were produced 2,000 ton annually, there are few reports for bioactive compounds in bulbils. In this study, three phenanthrenes and two phenanthraquinones were isolated from the aerial bulbils of D. batatas Decne, and their structures were elucidated. Among them, compound 2 (6-hydroxy-2,7-dimethoxy-1,4-phenanthraquinone) has not been reported previously. Evaluation of antimicrobial activities based on disk-diffusion assay, MIC and MFC showed the compound 12 (6,7-dihydroxy-2,4-dimethoxyphenanthrene) has strong antimicrobial activity with $25\;{\mu}g/ml$ of MIC and MFC against Candida albicans. Our results suggested that compound 12 has a potent antifungal activity, and the antimicrobial activity and its spectrum are modulated by hydroxylation and methoxylation of phenanthrene ring moiety of the compound.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1789-1794
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• 2011

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells playing key roles in immune sentinels as initiators of T-cell responses against microbial pathogens and tumors. Sarijang, a folk sauce containing extracts of Rhynchosia nulubilis, Ulmus davidiana roots, Allium sativum, and Rhus Verniaiflura bark, has been used as a nonspecific immunostimulant for cancer patients. However, little is known about its immunomodulating effects or their mechanisms. In this study, we investigated whether sarijang induces phenotypic and functional maturation of DCs. For this study, murine bone marrow-derived myeloid DCs were cultured in the presence of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and the generated immature DCs were stimulated with sarijang or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Our data indicated that sarijang significantly enhanced the expression of co-stimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86) as well as major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II, as did LPS. The results provide new insight into the immunopharmacology of sarijang and suggest a novel approach to the manipulation of DC for therapeutic application.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.68-71
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• 2007

Cordyceps militaris, Artemisa capillaris, and Fagopyrum esculentum have been known to maintain normal blood sugar levels in folk medicine. We investigated the effects of these nutraceuticals extract supplementations on fasting and postprandial blood glucose in diabetes mellitus patients. The study population consisted of 50 diabetes subjects with a mean fasting blood glucose of 186.8${\pm}$6.2 mg/dl and postprandial blood glucose of 292.8${\pm}$10.3 mg/dl. They consumed 3 tea bags (3g per meal) of the extract of selected plants for 17 weeks. Patients treated with nutraceuticals extract supplementation showed a significant decrease of fasting blood glucose (118.4${\pm}$3.9 mg/dl) and postprandial blood glucose (160.5${\pm}$4.0 mg/dl) in 7 weeks. Nutraceticals extract supplemantation caused a significant decrease of 36.5% and 45% in fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels, respectively, and also significantly decreased HbA1c levels. This study shows that extract of nutraceuticals supplementation significantly lowered the fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels in NIDDM patients. These effects presumably contribute to the hypoglycemic activity.