• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.217-227
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• 1997

These experiments were performed to investigate the safety of the three medicinal herbs- Curcuma longa Linne, Paeonia japonica Miyabe, Scutellaria baikalensis George-irradiated with gamma rays in respect of genotoxicity. The methanol-soluble and water-soluble fractions of the methanol-water extracts of the 10 kGy gamma-irradiated herbs were examined in two short-term in vitro tests : (1) Salmonella typhimurium reversion assay (Ames test) in strain TA 98, TA 100 and TA 012 (2) Micronucleus test in cultured Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. No mutagenicity was detected in the assays with or without metabolic activation. From these results, the safety of the herbs irradiated with gamma rays at practical doses could be revealed in further tests of genotoxicity in vivo, chronic and reproductive toxiceity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.958-964
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• 1997

The three medicinal herbs-Curcuma longa Linne, Paeonia japonica Miyabe, Scutellaria baikalensis George-irradiated with gamma rays have been tested for their possible genotoxicity. The methanol-soluble and water-soluble fractions of the 10kGy gamma-iradiated herbs were examined in the Salmonella typhimurium histidine reversion assy(Ames test) using S. typhimurium TA98, TA100 and TA102 as tester strains. No mutabenicity was detected in this assay with or without metabolic activation. The safety of the herbs irradiated with gamma rays at practical doses needs to be evaluated in further tests of genotoxicity in vivo and chronic and reproductive toxicity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.952-957
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• 1997

The three medicinal herbs-Curcuman longa Linne, Paeonia japonica Miyabe, Scutellaria baikalensis George-irradiated with gamma rays were tested for their possible genotoxicity. The methanol-soluble and water-soluble fractions of the 10kGy gamma-irradiated herbs were examined in cultured Chinese hamster ovary(CHO) cells for their ability to induce micronuclei. No mutagenicity of each test material was detected in the assay with or without metabolic activation. The safety of the herbs irradiated with gamma rays at practical doses needs further investigations using in vivo genotoxicity and chronic and reproductive toxicity tests.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.717-721
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• 2002

Study was carried out with electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy to identify irradiated Korean medicinal herbs. Pueraria thunbergiana Benth., Angelica gigas Nakai, Agaricus blazei Murill and Astragalus membranaceus Bunge were irradiated with doses of 0, 1, 5 and 10 kGy at room temperature using a Co-60 irradiator. The irradiated Korean medicinal herbs exhibited an asymmetric absorption, which was different from the non-irradiated ones. The strength of ESR signals linearly increased by dose-dependent manner (1~10 kGy) and highly positive correlation coefficients ($R^2$=0.9428~0.9942) were obtained between the irradiation doses and the corresponding ESR signal intensities. Detection of the irradiated Korean medicinal herbs was possible even after 6 weeks of storage although the signal intensities of the irradiated samples decreased until 2 weeks at room temperature.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.209-214
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• 1996

Irradiated and non-irradiated Korean medicinal herbs were extracted by water and 70% ethanol. Antimicrobial activity of these extracts were invesigated against selected food hygiene microoganisms. The ethanol extracts of the non-irradiated Agrimonia pilosa ledebour japonica Nakai, Curcuma longa Linne and Angelica gigas Nakai were completely inhibited on four species of bacteria, such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Clostridium perfringenes, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. Also, above four strains did not have antibacterial activity in the water-ethanol mixtures. Futhermore, the ehtanol extracts of the non-irradiated Agimonia pilosa ledebour Japonica Nakai, Curcuma Iedoaria Roscoe, Curcuma longa Linne and Scutellaria baikalensis George were shown inhibitory effects against Aspergillus flavus and Pen icillium islandicum. And the water extract of Scutellaria baikalensis George was the same effect to these molds. Essentially the same results were observed when samples irradiated at a dose of 10 kGy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.910-916
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• 2002

As the utilization of medicinal herbs in food and bio-industry increases, safe hygienic technologies for them are demanded. To consider the possibility of application of radiation technology for this purpose, the genotoxi-cological safety of three r -irradiated medicinal herbs were studied. Astragali Radix, Atractylodes Rhizoma and Cimicifugae Rhizoma were irradiated at 10 kGy, and then were extracted with hot water. The genotoxicity of the extracts was examined in two short-term in vitro tests: (1) Salmonella reversion assay (Ames test) in strains of TA98 and TA100; (2) Micronucleus test in cultured Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The extract was treated at maximum doses of 5 mg/plate in Salmonella reversion assay, and 1 mg/mL in micronucleus test where growth of CHO cells was inhibited by 50%. In Salmonella reversion assay with or without metabolic activation, both ex-tracts of irradiated and non-irradiated herbs showed no significant differences in formation of revertant colonies compared with the negative control. And also in micronucleus test, the incidences of micronucleus in CHO cells cultured with extracts of irradiated herbs were almost same as negative control in less than 3%. These results of two in vitro tests suggest that ${\gamma}$-irradiated herbs do not show mutagenicity and cytogenetic toxicity. Further tests of in vivo genotoxicity and chronic toxicity are needed to ascertain the safety of ${\gamma}$-irradiated herbs.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.54-59
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• 2001

The three medicinal herbs, Astragali Radix, Glycyrrhizae Radix and Aurantii nobilis Pericarpium, irradiated with γ-rays have been tested for their possible genotoxicity. The hot water extracts of the 10 kGy γ-ray irradiated herbs were examined in the Salmonella mutagenicity test(histidine reversion assay; Ames test) using Salmonella. typhimurium TA98 and TA100 as tester strains. No mutagenicity was detected in this assay both with and without metabolic activation. The safety of the herbs irradiated with γ-rays at tactical doses needs to be evaluated in further tests of genotoxicity in vivo and chronic and reproductive toxicity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1137.2-1245
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• 2001

The ${\gamma}$-irradiated medicinal herbs were examined the genotoxicological safety to consider the possibility of application of the irradiation technology for hygienic purpose. The three medicinal herbs -Glycyrrhigae Radix, Aurantii nobilis Pericarpium and Bupleuri Radix- were irradiated with ${\gamma}$ -rays at the practical dosage of 10 kGy. The hot water extracts of the irradiated herbs were examined in two short-term in vitro tests: (1) Ames test in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100, (2) Micronucleus test in cultured Chinese hamster ovary(CHO) cells. In the Salmonella reversion assays both with and without metabolic activation, the number of revertant colonies was not increased with each extract from the irradiated herbs, compared with negative controls. No significant difference in formation of the colonies was observed between non-irradiated and 10 kGy-irradiated herbs. These results indicated that no mutagenicity of the irradiated herbs was detected. In the micronucleus tests in cultured CHO cells, the incidences of micronucleus were not increased with irradiated herbs, and no significant difference in the incidences was observed between non-irradiated and irradiated herbs. These results indicated that no cytogenetic toxicity of the irradiated herbs was detected. The results of the two in vitro tests suggest that the irradiated herbs do not show mutagenic effects and cytogenetic toxicity. Further tests of in vivo genotoxicity and chronic toxicity are needed to determine the safety of the herbs irradiated with ${\gamma}$ -rays at practical doses.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.1529-1533
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• 2008

The detection characteristics of gamma-irradiated ($0{\sim}10.0\;kGy$) medicinal herbs (Platycodon grandiflorum, Acanthopanax chiisanensis) were investigated by photostimulated luminescence (PSL), thermoluminescence (TL), and electron spin resonance (ESR). The results of the PSL, a first screening method in comparison with the TL, showed photon counts greater than 5,000 counts/60 s (positive) in the irradiated samples, while the non-irradiated samples yielded photon counts less than 700 counts/60 s (negative). The TL was also applied for the detection method of irradiated medicinal herbs and showed that the non-irradiated sample revealed a glow curve with a low intensity, while the irradiated samples showed a higher intensity. These results were normalized by re-irradiating the mineral grains with a irradiation dose of 1.0 kGy, and a second glow curve was recorded. The ratio of the intensity of the first glow curve ($TL_1$) to that after the normalization dose ($TL_2$) was determined and compared with the recommended threshold values. TL ratio ($TL_1/TL_2$) was below 0.007 for the non-irradiated sample and higher than 0.1 for all irradiated samples (above 1.0 kGy). ESR spectroscopy revealed specific signals (6.065 mT) derived from free radicals in cellulose containing irradiated medicinal herbs. The P. grandiflorum showed clearer signals than A. chiisanensis. From the results of our studies, the PSL, TL, and ESR determinations were found to be suitable for the detection of irradiated medicinal herbs such as P. grandiflorum and A. chiisanensis.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.344-347
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• 2006

This study evaluated the use of electron beam irradiation for decontamination of the Korean medicinal herb, Angelica gigas Nakai. Herb samples were irradiated at doses of 2, 8, and 16 kGy, respectively. Populations of microorganisms in Angelica gigas Nakai decreased by 2$\sim$3 log cycles at 8 kGy irradiation. Electron beam irradiation caused negligible changes in Hunter color L, a, and b values. Sensory evaluations of Angelica gigas Nakai confirmed that irradiation caused no significant changes in the organoleptic properties of the samples. These results suggest that electron beam-irradiated herbs retain a better microbial safety and sensory qualities, compared with the non-irradiated.