• CELLMED
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1.1-1.6
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• 2020

Since times immemorial, people have been dependant on plants for the various nutritional and pharamacological properties. Folk and traditional medicine recognizes thousands of plant species having miraculous benefits. Fig (Ficus carica Linn.) has been part of folk-lore since centuries. Ficus carica Linn. (Moraceae) is a huge deciduous tree, with more than 800 species. Different parts of Ficus carica like bark, root, leaves, fruit and latex have their own valuable importance and are frequently used for the treatment of various illnesses. Fruit of Ficus carica is commonly called as fig (anjeer) has various medicinal properties used in Unani, Ayurvedic and Chinese traditional system of medicines. Fig fruit is mostly used in gastro intestinal and respiratory disorders. In Unani medicine, fig is used as a diuretic, mild laxative and expectorant. Phytochemical studies on the leaves and fruits of the plant have shown that they are rich in Phenolics, Flavonoids, Vitamin C, Alkaloids, Saponins, Coumarins, tannins, organic acids, and volatile compounds due to which it is having great antioxidant property. Most interesting therapeutic effects include hypoglycemic, hepatoprotective, anticancer, antimicrobial and hypolipidemic activities.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.220-228
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• 2013

This study was conducted to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of 70 amaranth accessions collected from South and Southeast Asia using 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. In total, 67 alleles were detected, with an average of 4.79 per locus. Rare alleles comprised a large portion (46.3%) of the detected alleles, and 29 unique alleles associated with rice accessions were also discovered. The mean major allele frequency (MAF), genetic diversity (GD) and polymorphic information content (PIC) of the 14 SSR loci were 0.77, 0.36, and 0.34, respectively. A model-based structural analysis revealed the presence of three subpopulations. The genetic relationships revealed by the neighbor-joining tree method were fairly consistent with the structure-based membership assignments for most of the accessions. All 70 accessions showed a clear relationship to each cluster without any admixtures. We observed a relatively low extent of genetic exchange within or among amaranth species from South and Southeast Asia. The genetic diversity results could be used to identify amaranth germplasms and so facilitate their use for crop improvement.

• CELLMED
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.22.1-22.12
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• 2014

Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl. is a dense evergreen tree of the family Thymelaeceae. This plant is popular with the name of Mahkota dewa, which is literally translated as God's Crown. All parts of this plant including fruits, seeds, stem, and leaves have well known therapeutic properties and have been extensively used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases such as cancer, diabetes mellitus, allergies, kidney disorders, blood diseases, stroke, and acne with satisfactory results. Scientific findings on bioactivities of P. macrocarpa also demonstrated different pharmacological properties of various parts of this plant including cytotoxic, antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antihypertensive activities. Phytochemicals studies of P. macrocarpa revealed the presence of several classes of compounds such as benzophenones, terpenoids, xanthones, lignans, acids, and sugars. This review aims to provide a critical overview on botanical description, traditional usage, phytochemicals, and pharmacological activities of P. macrocarpa.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.69-74
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• 2005

Kalopanax pictus is a long-lived woody species mostly distributed in East Asia. K. pictus has been regarded as medically and ecologically important species in Korea. Thornless castor aralia variant, local name 'Cheongsong' is an endemic to Cheongsong province in Korea. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to investigate the genetic variation and structure of Korean populations of two species. A high level of genetic variation was found in six K. pictus populations. Twelve primers revealed 49 loci, of which 29 were polymorphic (59.2%). Nei's gene diversity for K.pictus and K. pictus variant were 0.119 and 0.098, respectively. Mean of genetic diversity in K. pictus was higher than average values for species with similar life history traits. The asexual and sexual reproduction, perennial habitat, and longevity are proposed as possible factors contributing to high genetic diversity. An indirect estimate of the number of migrants per generation (Nm=0.857) indicated that gene flow was not extensive among Korean populations of K.pictus. It is suggested that the isolation of geographical distance and reproductive isolation between K.pictus and K.pictus variant populations may have played roles in shaping the population structure of this species.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.188-191
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• 2008

Poncirus trifoliata Rafinesque has been used as the immature fruit of the trifoliate orange tree. This study was carried out to investigate the quality change of Poncirus trifoliata Rafinesque depending on packing materials (vacuum packing, PP (polypropylene) packing, gunny sack packing), storage places and storage periods up to 12 months. The change of loss on drying content, content of poncirin were measured during the 12 months. As a result, the loss on drying content was decreased rapidly in gunny sack packing after storage of 12 months at room temperature. The content of poncirin was decreased generally according to storage conditions and its average loss percent was 38.8%.

• CELLMED
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.4.1-4.5
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• 2019

The medicinal plants are extensively used for curing variegated malady in day to day life. There is an emergent demand for plant based medicines, food supplements, health products, pharmaceuticals etc. Mochrus (Bombax ceiba Linn.) is one of the valuable medicinal plants used in Unani system of medicine since relic belongs to family Bombacaceae. It is a tall tree and widely distributed through India, Africa, Australia and tropical Asia. Many parts of the plant (root, stem bark, gum, leaf, prickles, flower, fruit, seed and heartwood) are used for the treatment of a variety of ailments. It is reported to possess nafe sailanur reham (beneficial in leucorrhea), mujaffif (siccative), muqawwi reham (uterine tonic), qabiz (constipative), muallide mani (production of semen), mumsik wa mughalliz mani (increase consistency of semen), dafe fasaad khoon wa safra (purifies blood and bile) etc. It is used in asthma, diarrhoea, wound, leprosy, boils and many other skin diseases. Also possess some important pharmacological activities such as antioxidant, analgesic, antipyretic, antibacterial, diuretic, hepatoprotective, anticancer, hypoglycaemic and hypotensive etc. It is reported to contain phytoconstituents like polysaccharides, naphthoquinones, anthocyanins, lupeol and naphthol etc. This paper provides a compendium review on pharmacological, phytochemical properties and therapeutic benefits of the plant.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.275-281
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• 2019

The pathological condition of excessive melanogenesis causing freckles, melasma, senile lentigo, pigmented acne scars, and cancer has a critical impact on the wellness of individuals. The mechanism of melanogenesis is related to the expression of melanogenic enzymes. Here, we evaluated the inhibitory effect of pine cone (Pinus densiflora) extracts on melanogenesis. P. densiflora, the Korean Red Pine, is the predominant tree species in the cool, temperate forests of northeast Asia, occurring in pure stands across Korea, Japan, and parts of northern China and Russia. P. densiflora leaves, pollen, and bark have been widely used for traditional medicine, or edible purposes. However, pine cones are rarely used as natural raw materials, although they contain many bioactive phytochemicals. The pine cone ethyl acetate fraction (PEF) showed no toxicity to B16F10 cells at a concentration of less than $100{\mu}g/mL$. PEF inhibited the expression of microphthalmiaassociated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase and tyrosinase-related factors in B16F10 cells treated with 3-Isobutyl1-methylxanthine (IBMX). These results suggest that pine cones can be used as an effective natural melanogenesis inhibitory agent.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.10a
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• pp.23-23
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• 2018

Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, located on tropical and subtropical climate zones with abundant biological resources. According to the latest version of the Flora of Taiwan, there are 4339 species of vascular plants including 1054 endemic species. First, Taiwania (Taiwania cryptomerioides), named after its native island of Taiwan, have been isolated more than 500 secondary metabolites, including lignans, terpenoids, steroids, and flavonoids. Several of the metabolites are reported to have antibacterial, antifungal, antimite, antitermite and antitumor activities. In order to investigate plant secondary metabolic diversity toward industrial applications, we established deep transcriptome resources for non-model plants and fungi to produce terpenoid metabolites of economic importance. Second, many plants of Lauraceae have been utilized in folk medicine for their exciting bioactivities. The twigs and leaves from 27 tree species of Lauraceae grown in Taiwan were performed to evaluate potential bioactivity. The leaves of Cinnamomum osmophloeum are traditionally used in folk medicines, and many biological activities have been identified, such as antibacterial, antifungal, antitermite, antidiabetic, antihyperuricemia, antiinflammatory, and antioxidant activities. However, C. osmophloeum has nine chemotypes with various secondary metabolite profiles. In order to efficiently produce active compounds, we established the genetic markers to identify the chemotype plants. Finally, Cinnamomum kanehirae is the host of the medicinal mushroom Antrodia cinnamomea. Several in vivo and in vitro studies indicated that A. cinnamomea possesses a diverse range of biological activities. Because of the potential pharmacological application, we established the transformation system to enhance the triterpenoid contents production.

• CELLMED
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.2.1-2.9
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• 2016

Traditional system of medicine mentioned the use of plants in treatment of various human ailments. Mochrus (Bombax ceiba Linn.) is one of the medicinal plants used in Unani medicine since time immemorial. It is a very tall tree with approximately 150 feet height. It is widely found in temperate Asia, tropical Asia, Africa and Australia. In India, it can be found at altitudes up to 1500 m. In peninsular India, the tree is very common in the dry as well as moist deciduous forests and near rivers. It is reported to possess qabiz (constipative); mujaffif (siccative); muqawwi rehm (uterine tonic); nafi sailan rehm (beneficial in leucorrhea); mumsik wa mughalliz mani (increase consistency of semen); muallide mani (production of semen); habise tams (amenorrhoic); dafi fasaad khoon wa safra (purifies blood and bile); taskeen hiddat aza (hotness of organs); muqawi asnan wa lissa (tonic to teeth and gums) etc. Ethnobotanical studies prove that it is used in diarrhoea, asthma, impotency, boils, wounds, leprosy, pimples and many other skin diseases. It is an anthelmintic remedy since ancient time. Pharmacological studies like hypotensive, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antiangiogenic, anti- bacterial, cytotoxic, hepatoprotective, diuretic, anthelmintic, anticancer, spermatogenic and anti-helicobacter pylori activities have been evaluated for various parts of this plant that confirms to its use in classical medicine.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.710-717
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• 2015

Humankind has been searching for medicinal materials from various plant sources in an attempt to treat disease. Mistletoe is one indubitable plant source for these materials due to its effectiveness in treating various diseases, but it has almost disappeared from the mountainous areas of Korea due to excessive harvesting. In this study, in order to select host tree species for Korean mistletoe [Viscum album var. coloratum (Kom.) Ohwi] by seed inoculation and to clarify the effect of host specificity among various tree species were conducted for the purpose of gaining basic information for the artificial cultivation of Korean mistletoe. Almost all the seeds of Korean mistletoe germinated in vitro at the temperature of 15℃. Among host trees used in this study, Prunus mume showed the highest parasitic affinity with inoculated Korean mistletoe, compared with any other host plants. However, treatment of hormones could not increase the low survival rate of Korean mistletoe on the host trees.