• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.123-126
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• 2008

The five flavonoids, isoqueritrin, juglanin, astragalin and 2-O-trans-p-coumaroyl astragalin were quantitatively analyzed in the leaves, unripe- and ripe fruits of four Korean Rubus species including Rubus crataegifolius, R. pungens var. oldhami, R. parvifolius, and R. coreanus belonging to the Rosaceae family. The HPLC analysis demonstrated that flavonoids are more abundant in the leaves than in the fruits. In the four Rubus species, ripe fruits generally contained similar or more amount of flavonoids than in unripe fruits. In particular, the quantity levels of total flavonoid (49.81${\pm}$0.50 mg/g) and isoquercitrin (35.08${\pm}$0.37 mg/g) were highest in the leaf of R. crataegifolius. In addition, the content of the flavonoids were quite low in the unripe fruits of R. coreanus that is most widely used as Rubi Fructus.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.33 no.1 s.60
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• pp.41-45
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• 2007

Recently plant extracts have obtained increased attention because of their health-related beneficial aspects. In this study, we evaluated anti-oxidation, whitening and anti-wrinkle of four different extracts obtained from Rubus coreanus (ethanol extracts of unripe, ripe fruits, leaves/stems, and roots). The ethanol extract of unripe fruits of Rubus coreanus generally showed stronger whitening and the anti-wrinkle activities than other extracts of Rubus coreanus. As a results, we knew that the ethanol extract of unripe Rubus coreanus fruit had mote possibility as a whitening and anti-wrinkle ingredient for skin care products.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.593-600
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• 2014

Osteoporosis is a progressive bone disease characterized by low bone mass which is caused by disturbance in the balance between the activities of osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Postmenopausal osteoporosis is one of the most common disorders in women after menopause, which is linked to an estrogen deficiency and characterized by an excessive loss of trabecular bone. Rubus coreanus has been used for their various pharmacological properties in Asia as a traditional medicine. To investigate the effect of unripe fruits of R. coreanus 30% ethanol extract (RCE) on osteoblast-like cells (MG63) differentiation, we examined the effects of RCE on in vitro osteoblastic differentiation markers, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and receptor activator of nuclear factor ${\kappa}$-B ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) expression. The high concentration (50 and $100{\mu}g/mL$) of RCE markedly increased ALP activity, whereas decreased the RANKL/OPG. We also investigated the effect of RCE on M-CSF plus RANKL-induced differentiation of pre-osteoclast cells (RAW 264.7). RCE treatment remarkably inhibited M-CSF/RANKL-induced formation of osteoclast-like multinuclear cells from RAW 264.7 cells. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of RCE was reduced by selective estrogen receptor-${\alpha}$ antagonist. Our research suggests that suggested that unripe fruits of R. coreanus may act beneficial effects on bone mass by regulating both osteoblast and osteoclast.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.38 no.2 s.149
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• pp.187-191
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• 2007

The extraction yield of the methanolic extracts and 19${\alpha}$-hydroxyursane-type triterpenoid (19${\alpha}$-HUT) fraction were investigated in the unripe and ripe fruits and the leaves of the four Rubus plants (Rubus coreanus, R. crataegifolius, R. phoenicolasius, R. pungens var. oldhami) to develop the biomaterial 19${\alpha}$-HUT mixture as functional foods. Thin layer chromatogaphy-Densitometer (TLC-DM) was used to analyze the individual quantity of 19${\alpha}$-HUTs using standard compounds (euscaphic acid, tormentic acid, 23-hydroxytormentic acid, kaji-ichigoside F$_1$, rosamultin, niga-ichigoside F$_1$). The content of methanolic extract of the fruits were higher in the ripe stage than in the unripe stage whereas the content of 19${\alpha}$-HUT mixture varied with each Rubus species. The Rubus plants containing the highest amount of 19${\alpha}$-HUTs in the leaves were R. coreanus, R. phoenicolasius and R. pungens var. oldhami while only R. cratagefolius showed the highest content in the ripe fruits. The mean of total genin content of 19${\alpha}$-HUTs was 0.94 mg/g; that of the glycosides was 0.60 mg/g. The genin quantity was found in the order of 23-hydroxytormentic acid> euscaphic acid> tormentic acid; the glycoside was observed in the order of niga-ichig-oside F$_1$> kaji-ichigoside F$_1$> rosmaultin, by which the biosynthetic pathway of 23-hydroxytormentic acid and its glucoside niga-ichigoside F$_1$ via the intermediates tormentic acid and/or rosamultin was presumed. It is also suggested that the ripe fruits of R. crataegifolius will be desirable to use as functional foods rather than unripe fruits.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.156-161
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• 2009

Rubus coreanus, commonly known as 'red raspberry' is used as a traditional oriental medicine in Korea for the management of diseases such as impotence, spermatorrhea and athsma, and for allergies, in combination with other herbal preparations, in many centuries. We undertook a comparison of the hepatoprotective effect of ethanol extracts of the unripe (UREx) and ripe (RREx) R. coreanus extract against acetaminophen (AAP) induced hepatotoxicity in rats. UREx reduced the elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TB), alkaline phosphatase (AP), lipid peroxide and nitric oxide content which had been increased by AAP administration. UREx also increased the cellular glutathione (GSH) content and induced the glutathione-S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) content which had been decreased by AAP. RREx did not exhibit strong hepatoprotective effect or antioxidant activity under the same conditions. The experimental results show that the degree of the ripening of R. coreanus affects the hepatoprotective activity in the AAP-intoxicated rats. These findings of a protective mechanism are supportive evidence for the utility of unripened R. coreanus in traditional medicine for liver ailments.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.501-508
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• 2014

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Rubus Coreanus Miquel (RCM), used as a traditional Korean medicine, reduces chronic inflammatory diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. However, its mechanism has not been elucidated. In this study, we examine the anti-inflammatory effects of RCM and their possible mechanisms using RAW 264.7 cells. MATERIALS/METHODS: Unripe RCM ethanol extract (UE), unripe RCM water extract (UH), ripe RCM ethanol extract (RE), and ripe RCM water extract (RH) were prepared. Inflammatory response was induced with LPS treatment, and expression of pro-inflammatory mediators (iNOS, COX-2, TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, and IL-6) and NO and $PGE_2$ productions were assessed. To determine the anti-inflammatory mechanism of RCM, we measured NF-${\kappa}B$ and MAPK activities. RESULTS: UE and UH treatment significantly reduced NF-${\kappa}B$ activation and JNK and p38 phosphorylation and reduced transcriptional activities decreased iNOS, COX-2, and pro-inflammatory cytokines expressions, and NO and $PGE_2$ productions. RE and RH treatments reduced IL-$1{\beta}$ and IL-6 expressions through suppressions of JNK and p38 phosphorylation. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we showed that RCM had anti-inflammatory effects by suppression of pro-inflammatory mediator expressions. Especially, unripe RCM showed strong anti-inflammatory effects through suppression of NF-${\kappa}B$ and MAPK activation. These findings suggest that unripe RCM might be used as a potential functional material to reduce chronic inflammatory responses.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.563-572
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• 2006

The plant Rubus species (Rosaceae) mainly contains $19{\alpha}-hydroxyurane-type$ triterpenoids $(19{\alpha}-HUT)$ as bioactive components. Available functional food includes blackberry (the fruit of thornless Rubus sp.), red raspberry (R. idaeus) and black raspberry (R. occidentalis). However, the fruit of R. coreanus, which is used in Korea as a functional food, substitutes black raspberry. Rubi Fructus, which has been traditionally used as an oriental medicinal drug, designates only unripe fruit of R. coreanus but not its ripe fruit which indicates that it needs high content of $19{\alpha}-HUT$ as a crude drug. Throughout our experiment, we found that ripe fruits contain very little amount of $19{\alpha}-HUT$ when compared to unripe fruits. In addition, various and rich $19{\alpha}-HUT$ has been reported from Rubus species. The most common structure of $19{\alpha}-HUT$ of Rubus species, euscaphic acid or tormentic acid with $3{\alpha}-OH$ or $3{\beta}-OH$, respectively, can be glycosylated or oxidized to produce a number of $19{\alpha}-HUTs $as euscaphic acid and tormentic acid derivatives and even esterified to form dimeric triterpenoids. In this review, the bioactivity and biosynthetic pathway and chemical characterization of $19{\alpha}-HUTs$ found in Rubus species are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.342-347
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• 2007

The dried fruit of the Rubus coreanus, which is well-known in Korea and referred to as 'Bokbunja,' has been employed as a traditional medicine for centuries. This crude drug has been utilized in Korea for the management of impotence, spermatorrhea, enuresis, asthma, and allergic diseases. Our previous study demonstrated that the ethanol extracts of R. coreanus have anti-inflammatory effects. The principal objective of the present study was to conduct a comparison of the anti-inflammatory effects of the ethanol extracts of R. coreanus and R. occidentalis; here, we tested the unripe (URCE), half-ripened (HRCE), and ripened fruits (RCE) of R. coreanus, and the unripe (UROE), half-ripened (HROE), and ripened fruits (ROE) of R. occidentalis. We found that URCE, UROE, HRCE, and HROE reduced the production of nitric oxide and prostaglandin $E_{2}$ as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 murine macrophages. Interestingly, the R. coreanus extracts showed stronger inhibitory effects on the production of these inflammatory mediators than the R. occidentalis extracts.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.290-295
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• 2014

The triterpenoids contained in four Rubus species (Rosaceae) were quantitatively analyzed using HPLC to select plants with large quantities of niga-ichigoside $F_1$. Unripe fruits, ripe fruits, and leaves were extracted to estimate the quantity of niga-ichigoside $F_1$, together with Rubus-specific $19{\alpha}$-hydroxyursane-type triterpenoids, euscaphic acid, tormentic acid, and kaji-ichigoside $F_1$, and a dimeric triterpenoid coreanoside $F_1$. Niga-ichigoside $F_1$ was most abundant in the leaves of R. crataegifolius (23.4 mg/g dry weight). The amount of triterpenoid in the black, ripe fruits of R. coreanus was lower than the unripe fruits of the same plant. On the other hand, the ripe fruits of three plants, R. crataegifolius, R. parvifolius and R. pungens var. oldhami, which are reddish, contained higher or similar level of triterpenoids than their unripe fruits. In addition, the concentration of niga-ichigoside $F_1$ in the ripe fruit of R. crataegifolius was 20.5 mg/g, suggesting that the fruits could be used as a functional food. Methyl gallate and ellagic acid were used as quantitative indices of total tannin. Methyl gallate levels were higher in ripe fruits than unripe fruits in R. crataegifolius, R. pungens var. oldhami, and R. parvifolius. In R. crataegifolius, the quantity of methyl gallate was 30.5 mg/g in ripe fruit, but 1.19 mg/g in unripe fruit.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.650-655
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• 2014

Hypercholesterolemia is the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood, and it is regarded as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease due to the effects of cholesterol. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of unripe Rubus coreanus Miquel (uRC) extract on lipid metabolism in hypercholesterolemic mice fed a high cholesterol diet (HC). uRC 50 (unripe R. coreanus 5% ethanol extract 50 mg/kg/day), uRC 100 (unripe R. coreanus 5% ethanol extract 100 mg/kg/day), uRC 300 (unripe R. coreanus 5% ethanol extract 300 mg/kg/day), and BO (borage seed oil containing minimum of 20% ${\gamma}$-linolenic acid 30 mg/kg/day) were orally administered for 60 days after HC. Oral administration of uRC 50, uRC 100, uRC 300, and BO significantly reduced serum total-cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic pyruvic transaminase, atherogenic index, and cardiac risk factor levels. Similarly, uRC treatment elevated serum HDL-cholesterol levels. These results suggest that unripe R. coreanus extract could be established as a functional food for the improvement of lipid metabolism.