• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.17-26
• /
• 2010

Recently concerns have been raised due to the unbalanced supply of crops: the price of crops has been unstable and at one point the price went up so high that the word Agflation(agriculture+ inflation) was coined. Korea, in particular, is a small-sized country and needs to secure the stable supply of crops by investing in the produce importation at a national level. Investment in foreign produce importation is becoming more important as a measure for sufficient supply of crops, limited supply of domestic crops, weakened farming conditions worldwide, as well as recent changes in the use of crops due to the development of bio-fuels, influence of carbon emission on crops, the price increase in crops, and influx of foreign hot money. However, there are many problems with investing in foreign produce importation: lack of support from the government; lack of farming information and technology; difficulty in securing the capital; no immediate pay-off from the investment and insufficient management. Although foreign produce is originally more price-competitive than domestic produce, it loses its competiveness in the process of importation (due to high tariffs) and poor distribution system, which makes it difficult to sell in Korea. Therefore, investment in foreign produce importation is being questioned for feasibility; to make it possible, foreign produce must maintain the price-competitiveness. Especially, harvest of agricultural products depends on natural and geographical conditions of each country and those products have indigenous properties, so distribution system according to import and export of agricultural products should be treated more carefully than that of other industries. Distribution costs are differentiated into each item and include cost of sorting and wrapping, cost of wrapping materials, cost of domestic transport, cost of international transport and cost of clearing customs for import and export. So transporting and storing agricultural products generates considerable costs compared with other products. Also, due to upgrade of dietary life, needs for stability, taste and visible quality toward food including agricultural products are being raised and wrong way of storage causes decomposition of food and loss of freshness, making the storage more difficult than that in room temperature, so storage and transport in distribution of agricultural products needs specialty. In addition, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. However, existing distribution system of agricultural products is exposed to various problems including problems in distribution channel, making distribution and strategy for distribution and those problems are as follows. First, in case of investment in overseas agricultural industry, stable supply of the products is difficult because areas of production are dispersed widely and influenced by outer factors due to including overseas distribution channels. Also, at the aspect of quality, standardization of products is difficult, distribution system is quite complicated and unreasonable due to long distribution channels according to international trade and financial and institutional support is not enough. Especially, there are quite a lot of ineffective factors including multi level distribution process, dramatic gap between production cost and customer's cost, lack of physical distribution facilities and difficulties in storage and transport due to lack of wrapping containers. Besides, because import and export of agricultural products has been manages under the company's own distribution according to transaction contract between manufacturers and exporting company, efficiency is low due to excessive investment in fixed costs and lack of specialty in dealing with agricultural products causes fall of value of products, showing the limit to lose price-competitiveness. Especially, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. Second, among tangible and intangible services which promote the efficiency of the whole distribution, a function building distribution environment which includes distribution information, system for standard and inspection, distribution finance, system for diversification of risks, education and training, distribution administration and tax system is wanted. In general, such a function building distribution environment is difficult to be changed and supplement innovatively because its effect compared with investment does not appear immediately despite of its necessity. Especially, in case of distribution of agricultural products, as a function of collecting and distributing is performed individually through various channels, the importance of distribution information and standardization is getting more focus due to the problem of repetition of work and lack of specialty. Also, efficient management of distribution is quite difficult due to lack of professionals in distribution, so support to professional education is needed. Third, though effort to keep self-sufficiency ratio of staple food, rice is regarded as important at the government level, level of dependency on overseas of others crops is high. Therefore, plan for stable securing food resources aside from staple food is also necessary. Especially, governmental organizations of agricultural products distribution in Korea are production-centered and have unreasonable structure whose function at the aspect of distribution and consumption is quite insufficient. And development of new distribution channels which can deal with changes in distribution environment and they do not achieve actual results of strategy for distribution due to non-positive strategy for price distribution. That is, it implies the possibility that base for supply will become vulnerable because it does not mediate appropriate interests on total distribution channels such as manufacturers, wholesale dealers and vendors by emphasizing consumer protection excessively in the distribution of agricultural products. Therefore, this study examined fundamental concept and actual situation for our investment to overseas agriculture, drew necessities, considerations, problems, etc. of overseas agricultural investment and suggested improvements at the level of distribution for price competitiveness of agricultural products cultivated in overseas under five aspects; government's indirect support, distribution's modernization and distribution information function's strengthening, government's political support for distribution facility, transportation route, load and unloading works' improvement, price competitiveness' securing, professional manpower's cultivation by education and training, etc. Here are some suggestions for foreign produce importation. First, the government should conduct a survey on the current distribution channels and analyze the situation to establish a measure for long-term development plans. By providing each agricultural area with a guideline for planning appropriate production of crops, the government can help farmers be ready for importation, and prevent them from producing same crops all at the same time. Government can sign an MOU with the foreign government and promote the importation so that the development of agricultural resources can be stable and steady. Second, the government can establish a strategy for an effective distribution system by providing farmers and agriculture-related workers with the distribution information such as price, production, demand, market structure and location, feature of each crop, and etc. In order for such distribution system to become feasible, the government needs to reconstruct the current distribution system, designate a public organization for providing distribution information and set the criteria for level of produce quality, trade units, and package units. Third, the government should provide financial support and a policy to seek an efficient distribution channel for foreign produce to be delivered fresh: the government should expand distribution facilities (for selecting, packaging, storing, and processing) and transportation vehicles while modernizing old facilities. There should be another policy to improve the efficiency of unloading, and to lower the cost of distribution. Fourth, it is necessary to enact a new law covering exceptional cases for importing produce in order to maintain the price competitiveness; currently the high tariffs is keeping the imported produce from being distributed domestically. However, the new adjustment should be made carefully within the WTO regulations since it can create a problem from giving preferential tariffs. The government can also simplify the distribution channels in order to reduce the cost in the distribution process. Fifth, the government should educate distributors to raise the efficiency and to modernize the distribution system. It is necessary to develop human resources by educating people regarding the foreign agricultural environment, the produce quality, management skills, and by introducing some successful cases in advanced countries.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.44 no.9
• /
• pp.1325-1332
• /
• 2015

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is an important dietary leafy vegetable that is primarily consumed as a fresh or salad material. It has a number of cultural varieties with green and/or red color. Carotenoids and anthocyanins are known to be responsible for these two colors, respectively. In this study, carotenoid and anthocyanin contents were determined to evaluate the stability of these functional pigments during storage at home. Analyses were carried out at the beginning, 3, 6, 9, and 12 days after harvest. In the course of storage at room temperature, total carotenoid levels rapidly decreased, and the decrease was found to be greatest during the first 3 days. Meanwhile, carotenoid level slightly changed within the first 9 days at $4^{\circ}C$ after harvest. This result suggests that carotenoids in green lettuce are more stable when refrigerated than at room temperature. Meanwhile, total anthocyanin content in red lettuce did not significantly decrease during storage at room temperature and $4^{\circ}C$, which indicates that anthocyanins have higher stability during storage compared with carotenoids in green lettuce. Anthocyanin extract exhibited higher antioxidant activity than carotenoid extract based on 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging assay. Antioxidant activity of anthocyanin extract may also be estimated directly by the presence of another potent hydrophilic antioxidant compound, which is ascorbic acid in this extract. In addition, anthocyanin extract showed about a 5-fold higher amount of anthocyanins than carotenoids in the carotenoid extract. The high correlation between carotenoid content with ABTS radical scavenging activity indicates that ABTS assay is more suitable than 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay for detecting antioxidant capacity of carotenoid extract from lettuce.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.487-493
• /
• 2004

This study has been undertaken to increase availability of native camellia in Jeonnam as a medicinal resource and to isolate the effective components from them. Fresh leaf and flower of camellia, single camellia tea and camellia tea mixed with green tea, herbs were screened for cytotoxicity on MCF -7 (human breast adenocarcinoma pleual effusion), Calu-6 (human pulmonary carcinoma), SNU-601 (human gastric carcinoma) cells. Also their multidrug-resistance reversing activity were evaluated using drug sensitive AML-2/WT and multidrug-resistant AML-2/D100 cells. Among the camellia extracts, young leaf and camellia tea mixed with green tea had strong growth inhibitory effects in below 100 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL against human cancer cells. In result, young leaf showed the strongest inhibitory effects on MCF -7 ($IC_{50}$/ = 100 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL ↑), Calu-6 ($IC_{50}$/ = 79 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL), and SNU -601 ($IC_{50}$/ = 39 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL), and AML-2/WT ($IC_{50}$/ = 64 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL). Chemosensitizing effect was the extracts of mature leaf ($IC_{50}$/ = 97 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL, RF=3.0), roasted tea ($IC_{50}$/ = 76 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL, RF = 2.6 ↑) and steam tea ($IC_{50}$/ = 70 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL, RF=2.8 ↑) strongly potentiate vincristine cytotoxicity in AML-2/D100 cells. But their cytotoxicities to both sensitive AML-2/WT and resistant AML-2/D100 cells were in the same order of magnitude. This results indicate that crude extracts of camellia mature leaves would contain some principles which have chemosensitizing activity.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.627-632
• /
• 2009

The objective of this study was to investigate the supplementation effect of selenium on beef color stability. A total of 15 Hanwoo steers were divided into 3 groups and 2 groups were administered with 0.9 ppm of one of two organic-selenium products, Organic-Se and Se-SMC (Se-spent mushroom compost) for 4 mon. The third group was the control group, which was not with fed selenium during the same period. The result of this study showed that there was no significant difference in meat color between the control and treatments when Hunter $L^*$, $a^*$, $b^*$, chroma, hue and total color difference (${\Delta}E$) were measured after 30 min of blooming. When the oxymyoglobin (OxyMb) contents were measured after beef samples were ground and stored for 48 h at $20^{\circ}C$ in an incubator, they were 26.04%, 28.52% and 33.78% for the control, Organic-Se and Se-SMC after 14 d of storage and 12.65, 18.98 and 18.72 after 21 d of storage at $4^{\circ}C$, respectively (p<0.05). The control had a significantly higher metmyoglobin (MetMb) content than Organic-Se and Se-SMC (p<0.05). This result indicated that selenium supplementation was effective in preventing the oxidation of myoglobin(Mb) and production of MetMb and thus was able to maintain the purplish fresh red color of the meat.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.98-108
• /
• 1974

Fourteen varieties of Korean chestnut were subjected to the test of adaptability for processing and the possibilities of colored products development. The fruit size of Korean chestnut ranged $11{\sim}18g$ and these small fruits could not be expected to be utilized for the processing of Marron glaces which requires larger size as $25{\sim}30g$. As the storge period is extended the discoloration tendency of chestnut flesh was increasingly developed, however, the fresh chestnut has shown layer-separating phenomenon and ragged surface of fruit which delivers disagreeable appearance to the finished product. The principal factors of discoloration occurred during processing were the behavior of tannin and darkening rate shown on flesh differed each other among varieties; the Chukpa and Yuma variety have exhibited the most serious discoloration and the Taab-b variety, the lightest. Taab-b variety in this connection could be expected to be available for Kanroni processing. For the industrialization of chestnut processing the flame-scorched peeling method is advisable. The capacity of this method is proportional to the square of scorching radius and highly flexible in controlling its performance. As for the processing of colored product, the sugar dehydration and coating and the sugar penetration method demand further study in basical views; however, the canned product of chestnut-redbean has shown the possibility of being utilized as a substitute for or paralleled use with the sugar-syruped canned product which so far has been considered as the only item of export to Japan.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.356-361
• /
• 1995

This study was conducted to know the quality of marketed green teas which were devided into high, middle and low grade according to the price. we examined the content of water, ash, total nitrogen, tannin, caffeine, chlorophyll and color value and did sensory evaluation. The results were as follows: 1) The content of water was 2.17-3.67％ and content of ash was 4.50-5.17％, there were no significant difference in each grade. 2) The content of total nitrogen was 4.38％ in high grade, 4.60％ in middle grade and 4.68％ in low grade. 3) The content of tannin was 11.09％ in high grade, 14.22％ in middle grade and 14.44％ in low grade, middle and low grade were significantly higher than high grade. 4) The nitrogen rate to tannin (N/T) was 39.5％ in high grade, 32.6％ in middle grade and 32.70％ in low grade, N/T rate of high grade was significantly highest than others. 5) The content of caffeine is 1.78％ in high grade, 1.32％ in middle grade and 0.92％ in low grade, high and middle grade were significantly higher than low grade. 6) The content of total chlorophyll is 297.37 mg％ in high grade, 192.89 mg％ in middle grade and 204.79 mg％ in low grade, chlorophyll a was 69.23 mg％ in high grade, 51.99 mg％ in middle grade and 63.42 mg％ in low grade, and chlorophyll b was 228.47 mg％ in high grade, 131.21 mg％ in middle grade and 141.63 mg％ in low grade. 7) Yellow value of high and middle grade were significantly higher than low grade, but blue and red value were no significant diffrence in groups. 8) In sensory evaluation, appearance, taste, odor of high grade were better than others and total score was 15.25 in high grade, 12.97 in middle grade and 9.80 in low grade. 9) Price had a positive correlation with caffeine, appearance and taste, but a negative correlation with tannine. NT rate had a negative correlation with tannine, but a positive correlation with caffeine.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.323-328
• /
• 1993

Benzo(a)pyrene [B(a)P], one of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is known as a potent carcinogen. As lipid consumption increases recently, the toxic effect of overheated lipid foods and fats ＆ oils were reported increasingly. In this study, the contents of B(a)p, other PAHs and rancidities of soybean oil were determined, and then the proper heating temperature, time and frequency were recommended, The work was carried out using soybean oil heated at $180\pm$5^{\circ}C$$, $200\pm$5^{\circ}C$$, and $300\pm$5^{\circ}C$$,for 50 hours. Acid Value(AV) and Conjugated Diene Value of samples were determined. The contents of B(a)P and other PAHs contents of all samples were masured by HPLC/UV method. The results obtained were as follows; Each content of PAHs in the fresh soybean oil was: Pyr 1.093, B(a)A 0.986, Ch 1.147, DMBA 1.082, B(e)P 0.664, Per 1.135, B(a)P 0.146, DBA 1.053, 3-MC 0.05 rg/kg. When the soybean oil was heated at $180\pm$5^{\circ}C$$, for 10, 20, 30, and 50 hours, B(a)P conterlts in heated soybean oils were 0.391, 0.692, 0.451, and 0.372 $\mu\textrm{g}$/kg respectively. Acid value of them were 0.26, 0.26, 0.29, and 0.33, and conjugated diene value was 0.67, 0.76, 0.99, and 1.04, respectively. When the soybean oil was heated at $200\pm$5^{\circ}C$$,and $300\pm$5^{\circ}C$$,for 10, 20, 30, and 50 hours, B(a)P coiltents in soybean oil heated at $200\pm$5^{\circ}C$$,were 0.844, 0.512, 0.479 and 0.247 Ig/kg respectively, Acid value 0.22, 0.21, 0.23 and 0.51 and CDNV 0.39, 0.49, 3.27, and 3.89. B(a)P contents in soybean oil heated at $300\pm$5^{\circ}C$$,were 0.466, 0.706, 0.607 and 0.247$\mu\textrm{g}$/kg respectively, Acid value 0.47, 1.57, 3.90, and 6.42 and CDNV 0.65, 2.15, 3.00, and 3.88.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.278-287
• /
• 1998

Carotenoids in integument of wild manchurian trout, Brachymystax lenok, and wild and cultured masu salmon Oncohynchus macrostomus, which are all the Korean native cold fresh water fish, were investigated by thin layer chromatography, column chromatography and HPLC. The total carotenoid contents of the wild manchurian trout were $3.72\;mg\%$ which is relatively higher compare to other species of salmonidae. The carotenoids were composed of $36.9\%$ zeaxanthin and $14.7\%$ $\beta-carotene$ as the major compounds, $7.8\%$ triol $7.3\%$ isocryptoxanthin, $5.7\%$ 4-hydroxy echinenone, $4.7\%$ lutein, $4.5\%$ salmoxanthin and $2.2\%$ astaxanthin as minor compounds, and other carotenoids such as canthaxanthin, tunaxanthin A, tunaxanthin B, tunaxanthin C, $\beta-cryptoxanthin$ and $\alpha-cryptoxanthin$ as minute carotenoids. Wild masu salmon contained more total carotenoids than cultured one and the contents were $0.82\;mg\%$ and $0.66\;mg\%$, respectively. The composition of the carotenoids from wild masu salmon were $20.7\%$ xeaxanthin, $17.0\%$ isocryptoxanthin and $15.8\%\;\beta-carotene$ as major compounds, and $6.2\%$ triol, $6.1\%$ 4-hydroxy echinenone, $6.1\%$ salmoxanthin, $5.9\%$ canthaxanthin, $5.8\%$ lutein, $4.9\%$ $\alpha-cryptoxanthin$ and $1.0\%$ astaxanthin as minor compounds. The composition of the carotenoids from cultured masu salmon were $19.7\%$ isocryptoxanthin, $18.0\%$ $\beta-carotene$ and $10.3\%$ zeaxanthin as the major compounds, and $8.9\%\;\beta-cryptoxanthin$, $8.5\%\;\alpha-cryptoxanthin$, $8.0\%$ lutein, $7.6\%$ canthaxanthin, $5.1\%$ triol and $2.0\%$ astaxanthin as minor carotenoids. Based on these data, wild masu salmon contained more zeaxanthin, salmoxanthin and 4-hydroxy echinenone while cultured masu salmon contained more $\alpha-cryptoxanthin$, indicating that carotenoid pigment of masu salmon depends on their living conditions. Unlike wild masu salmon, 4-hydroxy echinenone and salmoxanthin which are the characteristic carotenoids of salmons, were not found in the integument of cultured masu salmon. Unlike manchurian trout, both wild and cultured masu salmon did not contain tunaxanthin A, tunaxanthin B and tunaxanthin C.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.114-120
• /
• 1994

To clarify the effect of storage temperature on the morphological and histological changes of plaice, Paralichthys olivaceus muscle at early stages after killing, the changes in breaking strength of muscle, morphological observation of myofibrils and histological observation of extracellular spaces during storage at $0^{\circ}C\;and\;10^{\circ}C$ were studied. The maximum breaking strength of samples stored at $0^{\circ}C$ was reached within 10hrs and then it dropped significantly (p<0.05) from 10hrs to 25hrs of storage. However, breaking strength was not increased in fresh muscle stored at $10^{\circ}C$ and gradually decreased after 10hrs storage. In myofibrils prepared from dorsal muscle immediately after death, A-band, I-band, H-band and Z-line in sarcomere were clearly distinguishable from each other. Due to muscle contraction, it was not easy to distinguish H-band from I-band observed in sarcomere stored at $0^{\circ}C$ after 10hrs storage. But, in the case of samples stored at $10^{\circ}C$, H-band could be observed dimly until 15hrs of storage. The changes in morphological myofibrils were closely related to increase of breaking strength. No extracellular space was observed among muscle cells immediately after killing. Stored samples at $0^{\circ}C$ showed extracellular spaces after 15hrs storage. On the other hand, samples stored at $10^{\circ}C$ didn't show any extracellular spaces until 15hrs storage and showed extracellular spaces after 24hrs storage. It was thought that the post-mortem tenderization of plaice muscle was closely related to the gradually disintegration of the extracellular matrix structure after killing.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.577-583
• /
• 2000

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of various quality preservative treatments for extending shelf life and maintaining good quality of minimally processed fruit and vegetables produced in Korea. To determine the suitable treatments for delaying quality deterioration, fresh Asian pears and Chinese cabbages were sliced and treated with various quality preservatives (1% CaCl$_2$, 1% NaCl, 3% sucrose, 1% Ca-lactate, 1% vitamin C, 0.05% chitosan ＋1% vitamin C, 0.1% Sporix＋1% vitamin C, hot water (60$\^{C}$), 0.2% L-cysteine), packed with polyethylene film (60㎛-thick), and stored at 4$\^{C}$/0$\^{C}$ or 20$\^{C}$. Various biological and sensory tests were performed to evaluate the quality changes in minimally processed products. Results indicated that Chinese cabbages treated with 1% CaCl$_2$ at 4, and 1% CaCl$_2$ and 1% NaCl at 20$\^{C}$ were most effective in maintaining the quality and minimizing the biochemical changes during storage. For sliced Asian pears, 0.2% L-cysteine and 1% NaCl treatments were effective to reduce browning, and 1% CaCl$_2$ treatment was the most effective to prevent softening during storage at 20$\^{C}$ and 0$\^{C}$. Modified atmosphere packaging of Pleurotus ostreatus and Lentinus edodes had a significantly different shelf life depending on packaging material, packaging thickness and storage temperature. Sealed packaging with polyethylene film (60㎛-thick) for two kinds of mushrooms maintained a good quality with an extended shelf life by 30-50% at 20$\^{C}$ and by 30-130% at 0$\^{C}$. To minimize the quality deterioration which appeared in the condition of polyethylene film packaging, quality preservatives such as KMnO$_4$ and KHSO$_2$＋K$_2$S$_2$O$\_$5/ for SO$_2$ generation were added inside of mushroom packaging. The best condition for maintaining good quality longer was packaging with polyethylene film+SO$_2$ which showed 5080% extended shelf life for both Pleurotus ostreatus and Lentinus edodes at 20$\^{C}$ and 0$\^{C}$.