• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.44-52
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• 2009

Objectives: This study was performed to evaluate the influence of different extracting solvents (water, methanol, ethanol, or n-hexane) on the anti-inflammatory efficacy of Scutellaria baicalensis (Lamiaceae), which has been used widely as a traditional herbal medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties. Methods: The ability of each extract to inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory mediators such as NO, TNF-$\alpha$, and $PGE_2$ by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells was measured. Results: The results showed that extraction solvents (except n-hexane) for S. baicalensis showed significant inhibitory effects on NO, TNF-$\alpha$ and $PGE_2$ production. Especially, methanol was the solvent with the greatest activity against NO and $PGE_2$ production. However, there was no difference between the extracts for inhibitory activity of TNF-$\alpha$. Conclusion: The present study suggests that methanol is a superior extraction solvent than water, ethanol, or n-hexane for maintaining the anti-inflammatory effects of S. baicalensis.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.46-53
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• 2009

Schizonepeta spike (Korean name "Hyung-Gae") has been used for oriental medicinal purposes in Korea, China and Japan. In this study, twenty six "Hyung-Gae" samples were collected including nine certified Schizonepeta tenuifolia plants, and seventeen commercially marketed "Hyung-Gae" products. Chloroplast trnL-F and rDNA ITS regions of the "Hyung-Gae" samples were sequenced and used to identify whether the samples were genuine S. tenuifolia or not. As the result, the trnL-F and ITS sequences of all the "Hyung-Gae" samples were shown to be identical and it was proven that commercially available medicinal products "Hyung-Gae" are genuine S. tenuifolia. Phylogenetic tree of S. tenuifolia using the trnL-F sequences was constructed and compared with phylogenetic tree using ITS of rDNA region sequences. In these tree, S. tenuifolia was affiliated in the family Lamiaceae. It is proven that trnL-F and ITS phylogenetic trees are useful to study taxonomic position of S. tenuifolia.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.95-110
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• 2020

Background: In Korea, Agastache rugosa (Fisch. & C. A. Mey.) O. Kuntze is one of the well-known perennial plants belonging to Lamiaceae. This mint-fragranced plant has long been used for the treatment of abdominal pain, congestion, chills, and diarrhea since the Goryeo Dynasty. Although this plant has various medicinal properties, it is only used as a spice and for landscape purposes. Methods and Results: The objective of this paper was to review the chemical composition and biological properties of the essential oil of A. rugosa. Several studies reported that the essential oil contains more than 60 different chemical components of monoterpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons. The major component is methyl chavicol (estragole), accounting for 64% - 88% of the oil. The chemical composition of this essential oil vaired widely according to the planting time, environmental conditions, planting distance, fertilizer application, and harvesting time. Conclusions: The essential oil of A. rugosa possesses various pharmacological properties such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer, antiviral, nematicidal, antifungal, insecticidal, wrinkle improver, stress reliever, and Alzheimer's disease alleviator. Hence, the essential oil from A. rugosa could be used for the development of high value-added industrial products in the near future.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.163-168
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• 2010

Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina Nakai, P. vulgaris var. aleutica Fernald, and P. vulgaris var. albiflora Nakai have been reported as infrageneric taxa of Prunella L. in Korea. I found many samples of P. pinnatifida Pers. in the previously collected herbarium sheets in several major herbaria in Korea and confirmed its distribution again in Jaeun Island, Chonnam Province with the information from those herbarium sheets. P. pinnatifida Pers. has deeply lobed leaves in contrast to entire or barely dentate leaves of P. vulgaris var. lilacina Nakai, P. vulgaris var. aleutica Fernald, and P. vulgaris var. albiflora Nakai. I first report the distribution of this taxon in Korea and give it the Korean name Gal-re-kkul-pul. I provide description, illustrations, and an infrageneric key to identification of the other taxa of Prunella in Korea, and discuss some taxonomic problems of this taxon.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.27-53
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• 2018

This study was carried out to investigate the flora of Manisan (Ganghwa-gun) from April of 2017 to August of 2018. The vascular plants identified during the 12 round field surveys were a to total of 508 taxa: 107 families, 306 genera, 456 species, 7 subspecies, 43 varieties, 1 form, and 2 hybrids. The largest families were as follows; Asteraceae (66 taxa), Poaceae (59 taxa), Fabaceae (25 taxa), Cyperaceae (25 taxa), Rosaceae (22 taxa), Liliaceae (20 taxa), Polygonaceae (17 taxa), Lamiaceae (14 taxa), Ranunculaceae (13 taxa), and Caryophyllaceae (13 taxa). Among these plants, 169 taxa were recoeded for the first time from this region. The six taxa of Korean endemic plants including Clematis brachyura Maxim., Viola seoulensis Nakai, Carex brevispicula G. H. Nam & G. Y. Chung, C. erythrobasis H. $L{\acute{e}}v$. & Vaniot, Hemerocallis hakuunensis Nakai, and Lycoris flavescens M. Y. Kim & S. T. Lee were found in this region. The vascular plants on the red list according to IUCN evaluation basis were found to be two taxa: Near Threatened (NT) species of Wikstroemia trichotoma (Thunb.) Makino, and Not Evaluate (NE) species of Tylophora floribunda Miq., respectively. The floristic regional indicator plants found in this area were 26 taxa comprising three taxa of degree IV, four taxa of degree III, seven taxa of degree II, and 12 taxa of degree I. In addition, the alien plants were identified as 49 taxa and the percentage of naturalized index (NI) was 9.7%, and urbanization index (UI) was 15.3%, respectively.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.69-76
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• 2018

Objectives : Dracocephalum palmatum Stephan (Lamiaceae) is a medicinal plant used by the East-Russian nomads but there were few studies on this plant. This study was to evaluate anti-cancer effects of D. palmatum Stephan leaf hexane fraction on human derived prostate cancer cell death. Methods : The dried leaves of D. palmatum were dissolved in methanol, and hexane fraction (DpLH) was again obtained from lyophilized methanol extract (DpLM). DpLH was investigated by measuring by MTT assay and annexin V/PI staining to evaluate its effects on the cell viability and apoptosis of PC-3 cells. The ROS generations were detected by DCF-DA dye. The protein expressions were confirmed by p-AKT, Bcl-2, Bax, procaspase-3 activities. Results : After treatment of DpLH to PC-3 cells, the cell proliferation was significantly inhibited, and in addition, DpLH treatment also accelerated apoptosis of PC-3 cells. When DpLH was treated to the PC-3 cells, its ROS production significantly decreased. The proportion of all proteins (p-AKT/actin, Bcl-2/Bax and procaspase-3/actin ratios) showed decreasing tendency of expression compared with the control group. Conclusions : As shown in the above results, the extract from D. palmatum inhibits ROS production and promotes cell death, which is considered to be a relatively safe induction of cell death when administered to a living body. In conclusion, these results suggested that DpLH may have anti-cancer effect in human prostate cancer cell.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.19-25
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• 2019

Objectives : Thymol (2-isopropyl-5-methylphenol), a natural monoterpenoid phenol, is one of the major odorant constituents found in natural essential oils of various herbal plants, such as Thymus quinquecostatus and Thymus vulgaris. Multiple biological activities of thymol, including antioxidative, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory effects, have been reported in numerous in vitro studies, and recently it was suggested that thymol may could inhibit oxidization of L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) to dopaquinone required in melanogenesis pathway, as an antioxidant. Methods : MTT assay was performed to test the cytotoxic effect of thymol in B16F10 cells. Inhibitory effect of thymol to tyrosinase activities were examined using both mushroom tyrosinase and intracellular tyrosinase. Expression level of tyrosinase in B16F10 cells were investigated by western blot analysis. Results : The cell viability was decreased by thymol treatment in dose-dependant manner, leading significant cytotoxicity in 500 and $1000{\mu}M$ thymol-treated groups. In the alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (${\alpha}$-MSH)-induced melanogenesis, administration of thymol significantly decreased extracellular (secreted) melanin content in dose-dependent manner. Cellular tyrosinase activity assay and western blot analysis of intracellular tyrosinase showed that thymol has a strong anti-melanogenic effect by inhibition of tyrosinase activity and by decreasing expression of tyrosinase that contribute to melanin synthesis in the B1610 cells. Conclusions : As the first functional study that prove anti-melanogenic effect of thymol and its underlying mechanism in the living cells, our study suggests the applicability of fragrance as the functional materials of cosmetics or health supplement, not as just an additive.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.46-69
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• 1996

The studies were conducted to obtain the basic information of the effects of pollutants on plant species and to select the plant species showing specific responses to the pollutants. For these purposes, paraquat, ammonium, and cadmium as a source of oxidative stress, nitrogen toxicity, and heavy metal toxicity respectively were treated to the plant species. Among the tested plants, Lamiaceae, Brassicaceae, and Caryophyllaceae were tolerant to paraquat, whereas Poaceae and Asteraceae were sensitive. Especially Mosla dianthera of Lamiaceae, Hemistepta lyrata and Aster pilosus of Asteraceae, and Paspalum thunbergii of Poaceae showed higher tolerance than others. Paraquat resistance was related with life style, overwintering capacity, so perennial and biennial species showed higher tolerance than annual species. In response to ammonium, Poaceae showed higher resistance while Fabaceae and Caryophyllaceae showed sensitiveness. Weed species having tolerance to ammonium were Echinochloa crus-galli var. praticola, Panicum dichotomiflorum, Setaria glauca, Chenopodium album, and Solanum nigrum, while Mosla dianthera, Arenaria serpyllifolia and Perilla frutescens var. japonica showed sensitiveness. In the response of plant species to cadmium, Digitaria sanguinalis, Amaranthus lividus showed higher resistance, whereas Galinsoga parviflora, Plantago asiatica, Ambrosia trifida, and Paspalum thunbergii showed sensitiveness. The injured degree on germination stage by pollutants did not related with injured degree on matured stage. During germination, the root elongation was more sensitive than shoot elongation by pollutants, paraquat, ammonium, and cadmium.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.362-369
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• 2013

Agastache rugosa, a member of the mint family (Labiatae), is a perennial herb widely distributed in East Asian countries. It is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of cholera, vomiting, and miasma. This study assessed the genetic diversity and population structures on 65 accessions of Korean mint A. rugosa germplasm based on inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. The selected nine ISSR primers produced reproducible polymorphic banding patterns. In total, 126 bands were scored; 119 (94.4%) were polymorphic. The number of bands generated per primer varied from 7 to 18. A minimum of seven bands was generated by primer 874, while a maximum of 18 bands was generated by the primer 844. Six primers (815, 826, 835, 844, 868, and 874) generated 100% polymorphic bands. This was supported by other parameters such as total gene diversity ($H_T$) values, which ranged from 0.112 to 0.330 with a mean of 0.218. The effective number of alleles ($N_E$) ranged from 1.174 to 1.486 with a mean value of 1.351. Nei's genetic diversity (H) mean value was 0.218, and Shannon's information index (I) mean value was 0.343. The high values for total gene diversity, effective number of alleles, Nei's genetic diversity, and Shannon's information index indicated substantial variations within the population. Cluster analysis showed characteristic grouping, which is not in accordance with their geographical affiliation. The implications of the results of this study in developing a strategy for the conservation and breeding of A. rugosa and other medicinal plant germplasm are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.189-203
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• 2016

This study was carried out to investigate the flora of Jingangsan Mt. (Ganghwa-gun). The vascular plants identified during the 11 round field surveys were a to total of 560 taxa: 114 families, 336 genera, 495 species, 7 subspecies, 53 varieties, 4 forms and 1 hybrid. A high plant diversity were Poaceae (11.0%), Asteraceae (10.8%), Cyperaceae (8.8%), Rosaceae (4.6%) and Lamiaceae (4.3%) in regular order. The four taxa of Korean endemic plants such as Viola seoulensis Nakai, Salix koriyanagi Kimura ex Goerz, Hemerocallis hakuunensis Nakai and Polygonatum infundiflorum Y. S. Kim, B. U. Oh & C. G. Jang were collected. The vascular plants on the red list according to IUCN evaluation basis were found to be four taxa: Near Threatened (NT) species of Delphinium maackianum Regel, and Not Evaluate (NE) species of Mosla japonica (Benth. ex Oliv.) Maxim., Carex paxii Kük. and Polygonatum infundiflorum Y. S. Kim, B. U. Oh & C. G. Jang. The floristic regional indicator plants found in this area were 28 taxa comprising two taxa of degree IV, three taxa of degree III, eight taxa of degree II, and 15 taxa of degree I. In addition, the naturalized plants were identified as 44 taxa and the percentage of naturalized index (NI) was 7.9%, and Urbanization Index (UI) was 13.7%.