• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.168-174
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• 2011

In order to develop safe and economic novel antifungal agents, we prepared 73 methanol extracts from medicinal and edible herbs and examined their 365 solvent fractions using n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethylacetate, butanol and water residue based on the sequential organic solvent fraction method. When using the various fractions in the screening step for antifungal activity, we discovered ethylacetate fraction of Morus alba L., methylene chloride fraction of Pimpinella brachycarpa (MCPB), and n-hexane fraction of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, which all have activities in methanol extracts, as potential sources of antifungal agents. Amongst these, the antifungal activity of P. brachycarpa has not to date been reported on. In addition, the mycelial growth inhibition and spore germination inhibition activities of MCPB against A. niger were confirmed by disc-diffusion assay in a 10 day culture. The MIC and MFC of MCPB were determined as 0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml, respectively. The MCPB has no hemolytic activity against human RBC at 0.5 mg/ml and glycoside-flavonoids are theorized to be active constituents. These results suggest that MCPB has a prominent antifungal activity and that the application of sequential organic solvent fractions, instead of simple natural product extracts, is useful in the screening process of novel bioactive substances.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.590-596
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• 2011

Pimpinella brachycarpa, called as cham-na-mul in Korea, is an edible popular herb. However, the study of biological activity of P. brachycarpa is still rudimentary in worldwide. In this study, from the cultivated P. brachycarpa, we prepared the methanol extract and its subsequent solvent fractions, and their antimicrobial, antioxidation, and anti-proliferative activities were evaluated. The fraction yields of n-hexane (H), methylene chloride (EC), ethylacetate (EA), butanol (B), and water residue (W) from the methanol extract were 18.71, 0.7, 0.56, 4.57, and 71.51%, respectively. Analysis of total flavonoid and total polyphenol showed that the EA fraction contained the highest contents (89.23 and 200 mg/g), and the W residue has the lowest contents (19.6 and 2.27 mg/g) among the factions. In antimicrobial activity assay, the EA fraction showed a broad-range antibacterial activity, while the H fraction is effective against gram positive bacteria. In antioxidation activity assay, EA and B fraction showed strong DPPH anion and ABTS cation scavenging activities including reducing power, and Hand MC fraction showed effective nitrite scavenging activity (71.43~83.82 ${\mu}g$/mL of $IC_{50}$). In a while, only B fraction showed strong anti-proliferative activity against human colorectal cancer HCT-116 (166 ${\mu}g$/mL of $IC_{50}$) as a dose-dependent manner up to 200 ${\mu}g$/mL. These results suggest that the EA and B fraction of P. brachycarpa could be developed as functional food ingredients.