• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.89-92
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• 2022

In this study, the effects of soil conditions on antioxidant activities of the aerial and underground parts of rosemary were assessed to determine the most effective soil conditions for cultivation. The antioxidant activity was the highest (51.58±2.93 ㎍/mL) when cultivated in the mixture of gardening soil and vermiculite using DPPH assay. The antioxidant activity of underground parts the highest (127.48±12.38 ㎍/mL) when cultivated in the mixture of soil, vermiculite, and perlite. ABTS assay showed that the antioxidant activity of aerial parts was 230.34±57.93 ㎍·mL^-1 when cultivated in the mixture of gardening soil and vermiculite and that of underground parts was 320.98±16.04 ㎍·mL^-1 when cultivated in the mixture of gardening soil, vermiculite, and perlite. The total phenolic content of aerial parts was the highest (155.25±2.96 mg GAE/g) when cultivated in the mixture of gardening soil. The total flavonoid content of aerial parts was the highest (67.32±5.27 mg QE/g) when cultivated in the mixture of gardening soil. Therefore, the mixture of gardening soil, vermiculite, and perlite is superior to gardening soil alone for cultivation of rosemary to increase its antioxidant activity as well as total phenolic and flavonoid content.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.170-178
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• 2022

Purpose: Gardening has been reported to have positive emotional and physical effects in older adults. However, limited studies have assessed this relationship in Korea. Therefore, in this pilot study of densely populated urban dwellers, we aimed to investigate whether temporary but repeated experiences of the natural environment could positively change metabolism-related blood indicators. Methods: This study used pre- and post-interventional designs to investigate the effects of 16 weeks of gardening on lipid profiles in an urban adult population and investigate their relationships. This study was conducted 30 times at the H Botanical Garden in Yongin City from August 16, 2021 to November 30, 2021 (16 weeks, twice a week, 3 hours each time). Before and after the gardening program, a clinical pathologist collected blood samples from the participants. Results: High-density lipoprotein levels increased, low-density lipoprotein levels decreased, and total cholesterol levels decreased after the gardening activity. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that gardening has potential for clinical application as it has good control over the lipid profile through physical activity. These findings can be used as basic data for studying the relationship between urban populations and their living environment and for various studies in the future as experiencing the natural environment provides many health benefits.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.267-274
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• 2018

With rapid growth of the one-person households, this study focused on the psychological effects of pet plant gardening, one of the new trend of gardening among them. To clarify the psychological influences of pet plant gardening, 30 university students conducted gardening of pet plants in 90 days and the psychological effects was measured by the standardization personality inventory test before and after gardening. As results, pet plant gardening showed the effects of decreasing depression feeling of all participants, and the effects was significant in female than male. Pet plants gardening led to change females' personality more actively and more leadingly. Therefore, this data verified the positive effects in psychologically and induced personality showed pet plants gardening induced the positive effects the aspects of psychology and personality.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.513-527
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• 2016

The objective of the present study was to review the current research about the outcomes of horticultural activity interventions in order to determine research trends and analyze the characteristics of horticultural activity interventions. We reviewed the literature using search engines such as the Web of Science, Proquest Dissertation and Theses, Academic Search Premier, Research Information sharing Service, and Korean National Assembly Digital Library to locate journal articles that include relevant search terms (e.g., gardening activity, gardening program, allotment garden, urban agriculture, horticultural therapy, and horticultural activity). We initially identified 14,414 journal articles that were published before April 2014 and selected 509 of the papers for review. We found that studies investigating treating children and adults 8 to 64 years old were the most common, and horticultural activities such as gardening outdoors, planting indoors, making crafts with live plants, arranging flowers, making crafts with artificial or pressed flowers, and other activities were usually combined. Short/medium term (11 to 20 sessions) horticultural activity programs were the most frequent, and most interventions were of medium duration (> 60 min to 120 min). Most of the studies focused on the psychological or emotional effects of horticultural intervention, such as its effects on emotional intelligence, self-esteem, stress, and depression. Further studies are needed to analyze the research methodology, specific outcomes, and strengths or weaknesses of studies investigating horticultural activity interventions.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.710-720
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• 2014

Movements of the upper and lower limb muscles during five common gardening tasks were analyzed by using electromyography (EMG). Twenty adults aged in their twenties (mean age, $24.8{\pm}2.4$ years) were recruited. On two separate occasions, subjects visited a garden plot to perform digging, raking, troweling, weeding, and hoeing; all tasks were performed three times with 20 s intervals for each trial. To measure muscle activation during the five gardening tasks, surface EMG was used. Bipolar surface EMG electrodes were attached to eight upper limb muscles (bilateral anterior deltoid, biceps brachialis, brachioradialis, and flexor carpi ulnaris) or eight lower limb muscles (bilateral vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, biceps femoris, and gastrocnemius) on both sides of the body, for a total of 16 muscles. During the five tasks, photographs were taken of movement phases using a digital video camera. The right flexor carpi ulnaris and brachioradialis showed higher activation than the other upper and lower limb muscles measured during the tasks. All 16 upper and lower limb muscles were actively used only during digging. According to movement analysis of each activity, digging was classified into four movement phases, whereas raking, troweling, weeding, and hoeing each were divided into three movement phases. In each activity, there were high-impact phases in terms of muscle activation; the flexor carpi ulnaris and brachioradialis were identified as major muscles in each impact phase. This analysis may be used to generate biomechanical profiles of gardening tasks for practitioners when designing efficient gardening interventions for physical health or rehabilitation.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.959-965
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• 2022

Through psychological evaluation, this study attempted to verify the effect of quality of life improvements from gardening activities in apartment landscaping spaces. The study was conducted on 32 mothers raising children. Psychological valuation was conducted using world Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire(WHOQOL-Bref), the Satisfaction with Life Scale(SWLS), the Life Satisfaction Experience Scale(LSES), and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised(SCL-90-R). The psychological analysis results showed that, engaging in gardening activities for two weeks had, a positive effect on mothers' environmental of quality of life evaluation. The LSES indicates that satisfaction with oneself significantly increased after starting the gardening activities. The activity resulted in a positive change in attitude toward life. The SCL-90-R results showed changes in the mother's psychological state. There was a significant amelioration of obesessive-compulsive behaviors, hostility, and phobic anxiety. In conclusion, this study was found that, for mothers in apartments, outdoor gardening activities can significantly affect their quality of life. Moreover, it can help prevent mental health deterioration, Further study should be conducted on the beneficial effects of gardening on the variety of age groups and activities.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 2013

Present study analyzes the rooftop gardening status, floristic composition and cost and return of the rooftop garden in Sylhet City Corporation of northeastern Bangladesh. Data was collected from 450 rooftop gardeners randomly during July-September 2010. Study reveal that rooftop gardening is generally for mental satisfaction (95.3%) followed by leisure time activity (87.8%) in the study area and almost all the family members of gardeners' were involved; while collection of planting materials, sites preparation and marketing of products were reported to be carried out by males only (male 71.33%). Middle income classes were most interested in rooftop gardening (43.78%). The survey recorded 53 plant species (35 families) of which Cucurbitaceae family represented highest eight species. Shrubs (28%) were highest followed by herbs (26%) among agri-crops (36%) and flower species (30%). About 89% of the rooftop gardeners procured planting materials from nursery, market, fair, neighbor, relative and friends and they mostly prefer to use seedlings (48%) for roof gardening followed by direct seed sowing (21%). Gardeners sell products sporadically in different local markets, directly or through intermediaries, with no uniform pricing for system. Rooftop gardening improves the food security and meet nutritional deficiency to the gardeners. Survey revealed that generally very few people consider rooftop gardening commercially to get profit and from the cost-return analysis this gardening system can be economically viable if proper and scientifically managed. The study conclude that active government and NGOs could play vital role to increasing this activities by providing training and motivate people with technical aspects of rooftop gardening.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.536-547
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• 2008

Anthocyanidin synthase (ANS, leucoanthocyanidin oxygenase), a 2-oxoglutarate iron-dependent oxygenase, catalyzed the penultimate step in the biosynthesis of the anthocyanin class of flavonoids, from the colorless leucoanthocyanidins to the colored anthocyanidins. The full-length cDNA and genomic DNA sequences of ANS gene (designated as GbANS) were isolated from Ginkgo biloba for the first time. The full-length cDNA of GbANS contained a 1062-bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 354-amino-acid protein. The genomic DNA analysis showed that GbANS gene had three exons and two introns. The deduced GbANS protein showed high identities to other plant ANSs. The conserved amino acids (H-X-D) ligating ferrous iron and residues (R-X-S) participating in 2-oxoglutarate binding were found in GbANS at the similar positions like other ANSs. Southern blot analysis indicated that GbANS belonged to a multi-gene family. The expression analysis by real-time PCR showed that GbANS expressed in a tissue-specific manner in G. biloba. GbANS was also found to be up-regulated by all of the six tested abiotic stresses, UV-B, abscisic acid, sucrose, salicylic acid, cold and ethylene, consistent with the promoter region analysis of GbANS. The recombinant protein was successfully expressed in E. coli strain with pET-28a vector. The in vitro enzyme activity assay by HPLC indicated that recombinant GbANS protein could catalyze the formation the cyanidin from leucocyanidin and conversion of dihydroquercetin to quercetin, suggesting GbANS is a bifunctional enzyme within the anthocyanidin and flavonol biosynthetic pathway.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.221-231
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• 2020

Since elementary school is a time in which basic concepts like attitudes and mindsets about careers are formed, career education is very important to elementary school students. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of a gardening program applying the academic disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics, and Society (STEAMS) on developing career education for elementary school students. In order to determine the effectiveness of the program on career development of elementary school students, this study was conducted with 28 upper elementary students in the experimental group who participated in the gardening program, and 30 upper elementary students in the control group who did not. The program was comprised of total 8 sessions, one session per week, with various garden activities. The career development scores of the two groups before and after the program were comparatively analyzed. Before the program, the experimental group had significantly lower scores for career development than the control group. After 8 weeks of the program, the control group did not show any changes in career development, while the experimental group that participated in the program showed a significant increase in career development, resulting in no difference in career development between the two groups after the program. Therefore, the program has positive effects on improving career development of upper elementary students who previously had insufficient career development. Overall, the program had positive effects on career development of upper elementary students, and further research is needed to systematically promote the STEAMS-based gardening program to promote interest and understanding of students by associating plant-based gardening activities with various subjects such as science, art, and social studies.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 2020

Urban problems raised by the concentration of population in urban areas have caused residents to migrate to other regions while causing other problems such as deteriorated infrastructure, traffic and environmental pollution problems in existing urban areas. As an alternative to improve this phenomenon, urban regeneration has emerged, and under the assumption that creating community vegetable gardens is effective in revitalizing cities considering their physical, social and cultural environment, frequency and descriptive analyses were conducted on the vegetable gardens in Jungnosong-dong, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, Korea to examine differences in the components of the surrounding environment and the settlement, and community spirit of the two groups comprised of 30 and 35 persons who did not and did participate in gardening respectively. Regression analysis were conducted to determine whether there were changes in community spirit after participating in gardening. As a component of the surrounding environment, gardening and fence management were found to be important for both the groups, and they seemed to have high satisfaction with their residence because they wanted to continue to live in their neighborhood. Overall, the satisfaction evaluation results showed that those who participated in gardening showed a higher satisfaction level than those who did not. Based on the changes in community spirit after participating in the activity, it was found that there was a high level of perception in all the components, indicating that the gardening had a positive effect on the cultivation of community spirit. As such, the spaces called vegetable gardens are not only for doing physical activities but also as shared conversation topics, and through the activities in the gardens, changes in the awareness of local residents can be brought about through the formation of social networks and natural communication between neighbors. It can be concluded that they encourage residents to actively participate in improving the urban environment through activities such as planting.