• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.1110-1116
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• 2003

The effects of packaging methods on the storage quality of minimally processed (prepeeled) onions were investigated to determine the optimal packing design. Various packaging treatments used for modifying headspace atmospheres included two passive MAP using LDPE and PP films, two active MAP using a gas mixture of 20% $O_2/10%\;CO_2/balance\;N_2$ and an ethylene scavenging sachet, and moderate vacuum packaging (MVP). The quality attributes of onion samples were evaluated periodically in terms of flesh weight loss, color of cut surface, decay ratio, microbial counts, and sensory properties during storage at $10^{\circ}C$ for 28 days. Packaging methods did not significantly influence surface color, weight loss, and microbiological populations of mesophiles, psychrotrophs, and lactic acid bacteria. They did, however, affect sensory characteristics as well as decay occurrence. Results indicated that seal-packaging with a gas-permeable plastic film under a mild vacuum condition could retain better onion quality in terms of microbial decay and visual sensory aspects as compared with the other packages.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.258-264
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• 2017

This study analyzed the seeds of Zizyphus jujuba var. inermis commonly used as a remedy in traditional Chinese medicine, in order to determine its various biologically active compounds. Through process 3-pentadecylcatechol, ${\rho}$-menth-8-ene, and ${\gamma}$-bisabolene were isolated and identified for the first time which are urushiol, monoterpenoidal, and sesquiterpenoidal compounds, respectively. Also, found were another sesquiterpenoidal compounds, vomifoliol, and four steroidal compounds, ${\beta}$-sitosterol, stigmasterol, stigmasta-5,23-dien-$3{\beta}$-ol, and stigmast-4-en-3-one. In addition, fourteen triterpenoidal compounds were isolated and identified. These were lupeol, betulinic acid, betulinaldehyde, alphitolic acid, 3-O-cis-${\rho}$-coumaroyl-alphitolic acid, 3-O-trans-${\rho}$-coumaroyl-alphitolic acid, 2-O-cis-${\rho}$-coumaroyl-alphitolic acid, 2-O-trans-${\rho}$-coumaroyl-alphitolic acid, zizyberanalic acid, ceanothic acid, oleanolic acid, maslinic acid, 3-O-cis-${\rho}$-coumaroyl-maslinic acid, and 3-O-trans-${\rho}$-coumaroyl-maslinic acid. The structures were identified by comparing of the spectroscopic experiments, NMR and MS, and then compared that reported data, respectively. Three extracts of water, methanol, and chloroform from the seeds showed a weak anti-proliferative effect, anti-microbial activity, and anti-oxidant effect, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.1252-1264
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• 2020

Objective: To effectively utilize crop by-product resources to address the shortage of animal feed during the dry season in Africa, the community of natural lactic acid bacteria (LAB) of corn stover and sugarcane tops and fermentation characteristics of silage were studied in Mozambique. Methods: Corn stover and sugarcane tops were obtained from agricultural field in Mozambique. Silage was prepared with LAB inoculant and cellulase enzyme and their fermentation quality and microbial population were analyzed. Results: Aerobic bacteria were the dominant population with 10⁷ colony-forming unit/g of fresh matter in both crops prior to ensiling, while 10⁴ to 10⁷ LAB became the dominant bacteria during ensiling. Lactobacillus plantarum was more than 76.30% of total isolates which dominated silage fermentation in the LAB-treated sugarcane top silages or all corn stover silages. Fresh corn stover and sugarcane tops contain 65.05% to 76.10% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and 6.52% to 6.77% crude protein (CP) on a dry matter basis, and these nutrients did not change greatly during ensiling. Corn stover exhibits higher LAB counts and water-soluble carbohydrates content than sugarcane top, which are naturally suited for ensiling. Meanwhile, sugarcane tops require LAB or cellulase additives for high quality of silage making. Conclusion: This study confirms that both crop by-products contain certain nutrients of CP and NDF that could be well-preserved in silage, and that they are potential roughage resources that could cover livestock feed shortages during the dry season in Africa.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2014

One of the major challenges in metabolic engineering for enhanced synthesis of value-added chemicals is to design and develop new strains that can be translated into well-controlled fermentation processes using bioreactors. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of various fed-batch strategies in the performance of metabolically engineered Pseudomonas putida strains, ${\Delta}gcd$ and ${\Delta}gcd-pgl$, for improving production of medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHAs) using glucose as the only carbon source. First we developed a fed-batch process that comprised an initial phase of biomass accumulation based on an exponential feeding carbon-limited strategy. For the mcl-PHA accumulation stage, three induction techniques were tested under nitrogen limitation. The substrate-pulse feeding was more efficient than the constant-feeding approach to promote the accumulation of the desirable product. Nonetheless, the most efficient approach for maximum PHA synthesis was the application of a dissolved-oxygen-stat feeding strategy (DO-stat), where P. putida ${\Delta}gcd$ mutant strain showed a final PHA content and specific PHA productivity of 67% and $0.83g{\cdot}l^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$, respectively. To our knowledge, this mcl-PHA titer is the highest value that has been ever reported using glucose as the sole carbon and energy source. Our results also highlighted the effect of different fed-batch strategies upon the extent of realization of the intended metabolic modification of the mutant strains.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.382-389
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• 2013

Propionate is an important intermediate product during the methane fermentation of organic matter, and its degradation is crucial for maintaining the performance of an anaerobic digester. In order to understand the effect of temperature on propionate degradation, an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor with synthetic wastewater containing propionate as a sole carbon source was introduced. Under the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 10 h and influent propionate of 2,000 mg/l condition, propionate removal was above 94% at 30-$35^{\circ}C$, whereas propionate conversion was inhibited when temperature was suddenly decreased stepwise from $30^{\circ}C$ to $25^{\circ}C$, to $20^{\circ}C$, and then to $18^{\circ}C$. After a long-term operation, the propionate removal at $25^{\circ}C$ resumed to the value at 30- $35^{\circ}C$, whereas that at $20^{\circ}C$ and $18^{\circ}C$ was still lower than the value at $35^{\circ}C$ by 8.1% and 20.7%, respectively. Microbial community composition analysis showed that Syntrophobacter and Pelotomaculum were the major propionate-oxidizing bacteria (POB), and most POB had not changed with temperature decrease in the UASB. However, two POB were enriched at $18^{\circ}C$, indicating they were low temperature tolerant. Methanosaeta and Methanospirillum were the dominant methanogens in this UASB and remained constant during temperature decrease. Although the POB and methanogenic composition hardly changed with temperature decrease, the specific $COD_{Pro}$ removal rate of anaerobic sludge (SCRR) was reduced by 21.4%-46.4% compared with the control ($35^{\circ}C$) in this system.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.967-976
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• 2016

The objective of the present study was to investigate differences in quality of kimchi products produced in Korea, Japan, and China. Kimchi products from kimchi-producing countries with high consumer consumption such as Japan and China along with local products from Korea, where exporting has not yet started, were collected. Product pH, acidity, salinity, package pressure, gas production were assessed, and microbiological analyses and sensory evaluations were performed on kimchi products that were stored at either $4^{\circ}C$ for 63 d or $15^{\circ}C$ for 20 d. The pH and acidity results showed that as Japanese and Chinese kimchi had higher pH and lower acidity than that of Korean kimchi, which was determined to be indicative of insufficient microbial fermentation following kimchi production. Japanese kimchi had different microbial properties than those of Korean kimchi, which is due to differences in their manufacturing processes. Overall preferences derived from sensory evaluations were: Korean kimchi>Chinese kimchi>Japanese kimchi. The results of this study demonstrate the sensory superiority of Korean kimchi and may be useful when predicting consumers' acceptance level of Korean kimchi exported to other countries.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.229-234
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• 2003

Effects of Monascus koji on color, peroxide value, textural properties, microbial stability, and sensory characteristics of bologna-type sausage during storage at $4^{\circ}C$ for 22 days were studied. Addition of 2% Monascus koji resulted in attractive color and distinctly improved color retention. Lipid oxidation was effectively inhibited by lowering the level of peroxide value. Textural properties and microbial stability of the samples were not affected, whereas color was improved by the addition of Monascus koji. Utilization of Monascus koji in meat product could reduce the use of nitrite and inhibit lipid peroxidation during storage.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.1057-1062
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• 2016

Kimchi is a traditional Korean fermented vegetable food, the production of which involves brining of Korean cabbage, blending with various other ingredients (red pepper powder, garlic, ginger, salt-pickled seafood, etc.), and fermentation. Recently, kimchi has also become popular in the Western world because of its unique taste and beneficial properties such as antioxidant and antimutagenic activities, which are derived from the various raw materials and secondary metabolites of the fermentative microorganisms used during production. Despite these useful activities, analysis of the microbial community present in kimchi has received relatively little attention. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bacterial community structure from the raw materials, additives, and final kimchi product using the culture-independent method. Specifically, polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) was used to analyze the 16S rRNA partial sequences of the microflora. One primer set for bacteria, 341F^GC-518R, reliably produced amplicons from kimchi and its raw materials, and these bands were clearly separated on a 35-65% denaturing gradient gel. Overall, 117 16S rRNA fragments were identified by PCR-DGGE analysis. Pediococcus pentosaceus, Leuconostoc citreum, Leuconostoc gelidum, and Leuconostoc mesenteroides were the dominant bacteria in kimchi. The other strains identified were Tetragenococcus, Pseudomonas, Weissella, and uncultured bacterium. Comprehensive analysis of these microorganisms could provide a more detailed understanding of the biologically active components of kimchi and help improve its quality. PCR-DGGE analysis can be successfully applied to a fermented food to detect unculturable or other species.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.325-330
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• 2005

Rhodococcus sp. strain YU6 was isolated from soil for the ability to grow on o-xylene as the sole carbon and energy source. Unlike most other o-xylene-degrading bacteria, YU6 is able to grow on p-xylene. Numerous growth substrate range experiments, in addition to the ring-cleavage enzyme assay data, suggest that YU6 initially metabolizes 0- and p-xylene by direct aromatic ring oxidation. This leads to the formation of dimethylcatechols, which was further degraded largely through meta-cleavage path-way. The gene encoding meta-cleavage dioxygenase enzyme was PCR cloned from genomic YU6 DNA using previously known gene sequence data from the o-xylene-degrading Rhodococcus sp. strain DK17. Subsequent sequencing of the 918-bp PCR product revealed a $98\%$ identity to the gene, encoding meth-ylcatechol 2,3-dioxygenase from DK17. PFGE analysis followed by Southern hybridization with the catechol 2,3-dioxygenase gene demonstrated that the gene is located on an approximately 560-kb megaplasmid, designated pJY J1

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.565-575
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• 2019

This study evaluated Campylobacter jejuni risk in ground meat products. The C. jejuni prevalence in ground meat products was investigated. To develop the predictive model, survival data of C. jejuni were collected at $4^{\circ}C-30^{\circ}C$ during storage, and the data were fitted using the Weibull model. In addition, the storage temperature and time of ground meat products were investigated during distribution. The consumption amount and frequency of ground meat products were investigated by interviewing 1,500 adults. The prevalence, temperature, time, and consumption data were analyzed by @RISK to generate probabilistic distributions. In 224 samples of ground meat products, there were no C. jejuni-contaminated samples. A scenario with a series of probabilistic distributions, a predictive model and a dose-response model was prepared to calculate the probability of illness, and it showed that the probability of foodborne illness caused by C. jejuni per person per day from ground meat products was $5.68{\times}10^{-10}$, which can be considered low risk.