• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.378-385
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• 2002

Oxidant radicals are implicated as a causal factor in the pathogenesis of neurobiological disorders and neuro-degenerative diseases. The objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidant activity of edible plants against oxidative stress in bovine brain tissue. Fifty five kinds of edible plants grown in Korea were dried either by freeze-drying or hot-air drying (7$0^{\circ}C$), and evaluated for their antioxidant activity by measuring TBARS (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances) in brain homogenates subjected to Fe$^{+2}$_mediated lipid peroxidation with or without the addition of botanical extracts. Heat-drying decreased the antioxidant activity of most plant extracts by 10~81%, compared with freeze-drying. However, Aruncus americanus, Ligularia stenocephala, Artemisia princceps var. orientalis, Petasites japonicus and Aster scaber showed very strong antioxidant activities regardless of processing, with or without heat treatment. The $IC_{50}$/ values of the methanol extracts from these edible plants were in the range of 0.093~0.379 mg/$m\ell$, which was lower than that of ascorbic acid (0.79 mg/$m\ell$). Thermal processing of some edible plants enhanced their antioxidant activity.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.35 no.1 s.136
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• pp.52-61
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• 2004

Inhibitory activities of 264 methanol extracts, which were prepared from different parts of 210 kinds of wild and medicinal plants, against human thrombin were evaluated. Based on the anti-coagulation activity determined by thrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time, the 14 extracts were screened. The fibrinolytic activity, heat stability and inhibition of other proteolytic digestive enzymes, such as pepsin, papain, trypsin and chymotrypsin, of the 14 extracts were further determined, and Ginko biloba (herba), Ephedra sinica (radix), Reynoutria elliptica (herba), Amomum tsao-ko Crevost (fructus), and Magnolia officinalis Rehd. et Wils (bark) were finally selected as possible plant sources for anti-thrombosis agent. These results suggested that medicinal and wild plants could be the potential source of thrombin inhibitor.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 1989

Different fractions of maize plant and whole mixed fodder were analysed for their chemical composition and dry matter digestibility (DMD). Highest crude protein (CP) values were found in leaves as compared to the other portions. Younger plants contained more CP as compared to the matured ones. The crude fiber (CF) content of various fractions of the plant ranged between 19.12 to 35.60% with maximum values in the bottom portion of the stem. Matured plants contained more CF. The analysis of cell wall constituents indicated that the maximum values for neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were found in the bottom portion and in the whole mixed plant. The highest levels of acid detergent fiber (ADF) were observed in bottom fraction followed by whole mixed plant, whereas the other plant fractions did not show any differences. Variation in acid detergent lignin (ADL) values existed in different fractions of the plant and the lowest were in the top portion of the stem. Although there existed a variation in the mineral composition of different fractions of the plants, the results were non significant. Maximum DMD was found in leaves followed by the whole mixed plant, middle and bottom portion of the stem. The values of DMD were higher in younger plants as compared to the matured ones. It may be concluded that younger plants and the upper portion of the plants have a higher nutritive value as compared to the matured plants and lower portion of the plants.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to analyze inquiry activities in the middle school science textbooks focused on the unit 'Nutrition of Plants' of the 2007 revision curriculum and the corresponding unit 'The Structure and Function of Plants' of the 7th curriculum in terms of content, process and contexts of inquiries. The average number of the inquiry activities in the unit 'Nutrition of Plants' was 9.2, which was a 3.8 decrease than in the unit 'Structure and Function of Plants'. In the respective of process of the inquiry activities, 'observation' was most prevailing in the basic inquiry process and 'data interpretation' was most prevailing in the integrated inquiry process in both of the units. In the respective of the types and contexts of the inquiry activities, 'experiment/observation' was most prevailing and the percentage of the natural scientific contexts was larger in both of the units. In the unit 'Nutrition of Plants', the components of the integrated inquiry process and the percentage of personal contexts were larger than in the unit 'Structure and Function of Plants'. And simulation activities were newly presented and technical contexts and natural environmental contexts were included in the unit 'Nutrition of Plants'. This study makes a suggestion that a wider variety of inquiry activities should be included when new science textbooks are developed.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.510-518
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• 2013

This study aims to demonstrate the effect of farming technology on introducing medicinal plants (MP) and wild food plants (WFP) into a traditional agricultural system within peri-urban zones. Field investigations and semi-structured focus group interviews conducted in the Buhozi community showed that 27 health and nutrition problems dominated in the community, and could be treated with 86 domestic plant species. The selected domestic MP and WFP species were collected in the broad neighboring areas of the Buhozi site, and introduced to the experimental field of beans and maize crops in Buhozi. Among the 86 plants introduced, 37 species are confirmed as having both medicinal and nutritional properties, 47 species with medicinal, and 2 species with nutritional properties. The field is arranged in a way that living hedges made from Tithonia diversifolia provide bio-fertilizers to the plants growing along the hedges. The harvest of farming crops does not disturb the MP or WFP, and vice-versa. After harvesting the integrated plants, the community could gain about 40 times higher income, than from harvesting farming crops only. This kind of field may be used throughout the year, to provide both natural medicines and foods. It may therefore contribute to increasing small-scale crop producers' livelihood, while promoting biodiversity conservation. This model needs to be deeply documented, for further pharmaceutical and nutritional use.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2006

It is of utmost importance to feed the current world population by improving agricultural production with newer varieties of food crops, but what is still more important is to add nutrition into the food. Some of the plants, which are currently growing in the wastelands, contain certain phytochemicals which add to their neutraceutical and health value. These plants contain secondary metabolites which enhance the over all metabolic functions of the body. Withasteroids are one of such phytochemicals. These chemicals are almost exclusively found in plants of the Solanaceae family; one of which, Physalis minima, contains several with asteroids. The aerial parts and roots of P. minima have been found to contain several steroids, identification of which is been discussed in this paper. These with asteroids contribute to the functional value since incorporation of withanolides in the diet may prevent or decrease the growth of tumors in humans.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.167-173
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• 2004

The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant effect of medicinal plants used by diabetic patients. Fourteen medicinal plants were selected and antioxidant activity such as 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, inhibition effect of linoleic acid autoxidation and low density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value were measured. The Cornus officinalis had DPPH radical scavenging activity of 84.79%, which was higher than the 78.79% for $\alpha$-tocopherol. Rosa rugosa Thunberg, Pueraria thundergiana Bentham, Artemisia princeps var. orientalis and Sasamorpha purpurascens Nakai also had high values. Extracts with higher DPPH radical scavenging activities had higher total phenol concentrations, and positive correlations between these parameters were found. Inhibitory activities of linoleic acid autoxidation, LDL oxidation and TBA value, used as indices of oxidative stress, were observed in most of the selected medicinal plants. The highest inhibitory activity for TBA value was observed in the extract of Pueraria thundergiana Bentham. Rosa rugosa Thunberg (75.50 %), Sasamorpha purpurascens Nakai (74.00 %), and Cornus officinalis (73.00 %) all had high antioxidant activity against linoleic acid autoxidation, similar to that of $\alpha$-tocopherol. The same 3 plants also had high in inhibitory activity against LDL oxidation. Therefore, we demonstrated that medicinal plants used as folk remedy by diabetic patients had antioxidant activity. Especially, Rosa rugosa Thunberg, Cornus officinalis, Pueraria thundergiana Bentham, Arlemisia princeps var. orientalis, and Sasamorpha purpurascens Nakai had high phenol concentrations which resulted in high values for DPPH radical scavenging. These same plants exhibited high values for inhibitory activities for TBA value, linoleic acid autoxidation and LDL oxidation, indices associated with lipid peroxidation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.523-528
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• 1996

The anti-inflammatory effect of the methanolic extracts of some medicinal plants was investigated on the hydrolysis of N-benzoylarginine-p-nitroanilide by trypsin in vitro, the writhing syndrome induced by acetic acid in mice, and the carrageenin-induced paw edema in rats. Among tested medicinal plants, the methanoilc extract of Angelica keiskei, Rosa rugosa and Cudrania tricuspidata showed significant inhibitory effect. And we also found that adenosine, isolated from A. keiskei was identified as one active components.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.151-157
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• 2014

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: In Asia, various medicinal plants have been used as the primary sources in the health care regimen for thousands of years. In recent decades, various studies have investigated the biological activity and potential medicinal value of the medicinal plants. In this study, 100 methanol extracts from 98 plant species were evaluated for their biological activities. MATERIALS/METHODS: The research properties, including 1,1-diphenyl-2-pic-rylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and ${\alpha}$-tyrosinase inhibitory effects, anti-inflammatory activity, and anticancer activity were evaluated for the selected extracts. RESULTS: Fifteen of the extracts scavenged more than 90% of the DPPH radical. Among the extracts, approximately 20 extracts showed a strong inhibitory effect on ${\alpha}$-glucosidase, while most had no effect on ${\alpha}$-tyrosinase. In addition, 52% of the extracts showed low toxicity to normal cells, and parts of the extracts exhibited high anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities on the murine macrophage cell (RAW 264.7) and human colon cancer cell (HT-29) lines, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings may contribute to further nutrition and pharmacological studies. Detailed investigations of the outstanding samples are currently underway.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.224-231
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• 2004

Vitamin U levels in 26 kinds of food plants are well known to healthy vegetables in Asian or Western countries were determined. Spinach showed the highest level of 452.04 mg/kg and in order Pack-choi (343.18 mg/kg) > Kale (234.18 mg/kg) > Somssukbujaengi (197.66 mg/kg) > leaf mustard (196.21 mg/kg) > aralia bud (192.50 mg/kg)> broccoli (189.03 mg/kg) >Asparagus (187.35 mg/kg). Among Korean wild medicinal plants, Sumssukbujaengi showed the highest value followed by Sanmanul (a kind of wild garlic) level of 143.46 mg/kg. For Chinese cabbages and cabbages, vitamin U showed different levels according to the parts of plant such as core, middle, outward leaves. In both samples, middle parts of leaves including midribs contained the highest level of vitamin U. The level of vitamin U was dependent on the part of the plant sample and cultivars. Leaf parts of turnip and white radish showed higher value of 84.82 mg/kg and 124.62 mg/kg than those of roots which were in order of middle (112.39 mg/kg), top (84.84 mg/kg) and bottom (84.61 mg/kg) portions in the white radish. In the analysis of amino acids, we didn't find either distinctive relationship between methionine and vitamin U synthesis or significant connection various free amino acids and vitamin U level in food plants.