• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.32-39
• /
• 2010

This study was carried out to investigate the usefulness of the natural antimicrobial substances for natural dyeing. Antimicrobial activity of natural substances, extracted by water, ethanol, methanol and ethyl acetate, were shown over 20 mm by Rheum palmatum, Caesalpinia sappan, Prunus mume, Schizandra chinensis, Rhus javanica, and Coptis japonica. Especially, water and methanol extract of C. japonica were shown strong antimicrobial activity against all investigated strains. Minimum inhibition concentration of C. japonica water extract was investigated 110 mg/mL for Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538. Investigated natural substances were not only shown strong antimicrobial activity for natural dyeing but also might be used other industries.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.275-281
• /
• 2004

Our previous research has demonstrated that the bacterium, Pseudomonas sp. NFQ-l capable of utilizing quin­oline (2,3-benzopyridine) as the sole source of carbon, nitrogen, and energy was isolated and characterized [Yoon et ai. (2003) Kor. J. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 18(3):174-179]. In this study, we have found that Pseudomonas sp. NFQ-l could degrade quinoline as well as benzoate, and extended this work to characterize the catechol 1,2­dioxygenase (C1,2O) purified from the bacterium cultured in benzoate media. Initially, C1,2O has been purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel permeation chromatography, and Source 15Q. After Source 15Q, puri­fication fold was increased to approximately 14.21 unit/mg. Molecular weight of C1,2O was about 33 kDa. Physicochemical characteristics (e.g., substrate specificity, Km, Vmax, pH, temperature and effect of inhibitors) of purified C1,2O were examined. C1,2O demonstrated the activity for catechol, 4-methylcatechol and 3-meth­ylcatechol as a substrate, respectively. The Km and Vmax value of C1,2O for catechol was 38.54 ${\mu}M$ and $25.10\;{\mu}mol{\cdot}min^{-1}{\cdot}mg^{-1}.$ The optimal temperature of C1,2O was $30^{\circ}C$ and the optimal pH was approximately 8.5. Metal ions such as $Ag^+,\;Hg^+,\;Ca^{2+},\;and\;Cu^{2+}$ show the inhibitory effect on the activity of C1,2O. N-terminal amino sequence of C1,2O was analyzed as ^1TVKISQSASIQKFFEEA^{17}.$ In this work, we found that the amino acid sequence of NFQ-l showed the sequence homology of 82, 71, 59 and $53\%$ compared with C1,2O from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA0l, Pseudomonas arvilla C-1., P. putida KT2440 and Pseudomonas sp. CA10, respectively.

• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.145-154
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of natural antioxidants as stabilizers for meat by-products to prevent lipid oxidation. The white internal organs were evaluated using different treatments: no antioxidant (control), ascorbic acid (T1), Artemisiacapillaris Thunb. (T2), Opuntia (T3), Schisandra chinensis (T4), and Saururuschinensis (Lour.) Baill (T5). Antioxidant activities were analyzed by measuring DPPH contents, superoxide anion radical levels, nitrate scavenging activities, and total polyphenol contents. T1 and T2 showed higher antioxidant activities and total polyphenol contents (p<0.05). Additionally, changes in physicochemical properties (pH, color, volatile basic nitrogen [VBN], and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [TBARS]) and microbiological aspects in white internal organs processed with antioxidants were investigated. As storage time increased, the CIE $a^*$ and $b^*$ values of the white internal organs processed with natural antioxidants were decreased (p<0.05), and CIE $L^*$ values were low, particularly for the T3 sample relative to that in the control. Moreover, the pH, VBN, and TBARS values of samples T2-T5 were increased after 7 days of storage, but showed low values compared with those of the control (p<0.05). Moreover, compared with the control group, the treatments showed antimicrobial effects. Our results indicated that these natural antioxidants could be used as lipid oxidation stabilizers of meat by-products during storage and that Artemisiacapillaris Thunb. and Opuntia may have applications as natural antioxidants in the meat by-product industry.

• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.187-195
• /
• 2017

This study evaluated quality characteristics of soybean fermented by selected lactic acid bacteria, which were the enzyme strains with high antimicrobial activities isolated from traditionally prepared soybean paste. We determined total aerobic and lactic acid bacteria counts, protease and amylase activities, reducing sugar and amino-type nitrogen contents, and the amounts of amino acids, organic acids, and aroma-compounds. The total aerobic bacteria counts in soybean fermented with strain I13 ($7.75{\times}10^9CFU/mL$) were the highest among all the strains analyzed. Lactic acid bacteria numbers were $2.85{\times}10^9$ to $4.35{\times}10^9CFU/mL$ in soybean fermented with isolates. Amylase and protease activities of the JSB22 sample were the highest among all sample. Reducing sugar and amino-type nitrogen contents of soybean fermented with JSB22 (1.23%, 94.52 mg%) were highest. Total amino acid content of the samples was 15.88-17.62%, and glutamic acid, aspartic acid, leucine, lysine, and arginine were the major amino acids. Lactic acid (0.82-3.65 g/100 g), oxalic acid (22.74-63.57 mg/100 g), and fumaric acid (2.88-6.33 mg/100 g) were predominant organic acids. A total of 39 volatile aroma-compounds were identified, including 2 esters, 5 ketones, 7 alcohols, 14 hydrocarbons, 2 heterocyclic compounds, 4 acids, and 5 miscellaneous compounds. These results represent useful information for the development of a starter (single or complex) and will be used for production of functional fermented soybean foods.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.565-573
• /
• 2022

Gingival inflammation is one of the main causes that can be related to various periodontal diseases. Human gingival fibroblast (HGF) is the major constituent in periodontal connective tissue and secretes various inflammatory mediators, such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂), upon lipopolysaccharide stimulation. This study is aimed at investigating the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities of Lotus Root extract (LRE) in Porphyromonas gingivalis derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS-PG)-stimulated HGF-1 cells. The concentration of NO and PGE₂, as well as their responsible enzymes, inducible NO synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), was analyzed by Griess reaction, ELISA, and western blot analysis. LPS-PG sharply elevated the production and protein expression of inflammatory mediators, which were significantly attenuated by LRE treatment in a dose-dependent manner. LRE treatment also suppressed activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in LPS-PG-stimulated HGF-1 cells. In addition, one of phase II enzyme, NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase (NQO)-1, and its transcription factor, Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), were significantly induced by LRE treatment. Consequently, these results suggest that LRE ameliorates LPS-PG-induced inflammatory responses by attenuating TLR4/MyD88-mediated NF-κB, and activating NQO-1/Nrf2 antioxidant response element signaling pathways in HGF-1 cells.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.11
• /
• pp.1-27
• /
• 1969

More than thirty kinds of sea food pickles have been eaten in Korea. Out of these salted yellow tail pickle, salted clam pickle, salted oyster pickle, and salted cuttlefish pickle were employed for the analysis of their components, identification of main fermenting microbes, and determination of enzyme characteristics concerned. Also studied was the effect of enzymic action of microbes, which are concerned with the fermenting of pickles, on the production of flavorous 5'-mononucleotides and amino acids. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Microflora observed in the pickles are: (a) Total count of viable cells after 1-2 months of pickling was found to be $10^7$ and that after 6 months decreased to $10^4$. (b) Microbial occurence in the early stage of pickling was observed to be 10-20% Micrococcus spp., 10-20% Brevibacterium spp., 0-30% Sarcina spp., 20-30% Leuconostoc spp., ca 30% Bacillus spp., 0-10% Pseudomonas spp., 0-10% Flavobacterium spp., and 0-20% yeast. (c) Following the early stage of pickling, mainly halophilic bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Pediococcus halophilus and Sarcina litoralis, were found to exhibit an effect on the fermentation of pickle and their enzyme activities were in direct concern in fermentation of pickles. (d) Among the bacteria participating in the fermentation, Sarcina litoralis 8-14 and 8-16 strains were in need of high nutritional requirement and the former was grown only in the presence of purine, pyrimidine and cystine and the latter purine, pyrimidine and glutamic acid. 2. Enzyme characteristics studied in relation to the raw materials and the concerned microbes isolated are as follows: (a) A small amount of protease was found in the raw materials and 30-60% decrease in protease activity was demonstrated at 7% salt concentration. (b) Protease activity of halophilic bacteria, Bacillus subtilis 7-6, 11-1, 3-6 and 9-4 strains, in the complete media decreased by 10-30% at the 7% salt concentration and that of Sarcina litoralis 8-14 and 8-16 strains decreased by 10-20%. (c) Proteins in the raw materials were found to be hydrolyzed to yield free amino acids by protease in the fermenting microbes. (d) No accumulation of flavorous 5'-mononucleotides was demonstrated because RNA-depolymerase in the raw materials and the pickles tended to decompose RNA into nucleoside and phosphoric acid. (e) The enzyme produced in Bacillus subtilis 3-6 strain isolated from the salted clam pickles, was ascertained to be 5'-phosphodiesterase because of its ability to decompose RNA and thus accumulating 5'-mononucleotide. (f) It was demonstrated that the activity of phosphodiesterase in Bacillus subtilis 3-6 strain was enhanced by some components in the corn steep liquor and salted clam pickle. The enzyme activity was found to decrease by 10-30% and 40-60% at the salt concentration of 10% and 20%, respectively. 3. Quantitative data for free amino acids in the pickles are as follows: (a) Amounts of acidic amino acids such as glutamic and aspartic acids in salted clam pickle, were observed to be 2-10 times other pickles and it is considered that the abundance in these amino acids may contribute significantly to the specific flavor of this food. (b) Large amounts of basic amino acids such as arginine and histidine were found to occur in salted yellow tail pickle. (c) It is much interesting that in the salted cuttlefish pickle the contents of sulfur-containing amino acids were exceedingly high compared with those of others: cystine was found to be 17-130 times and methionine, 7-19 times. (d) In the salted oyster pickle a high content of some essential amino acids such as lysine, threonine, isoleucine and leucine, was demonstrated and a specific flavor of the pickle was ascribed to the sweet amino acids. Contents of alanine and glycine in the salted oyster pickle were 4 and 3-14 times as much as those of the others respectively. 4. Analytical data for 5'-mononucleotides in the pickles are as follows: (a) 5'-Adenylic acid and 3'-adenylic acid were found in large amounts in the salted yellow tail pickle and 5'-inosinic acid in lesser amount. (b) 5'-Adenylic acid, especially 3'-adenylic acid predominated in amount in the salted oyster pickle over that in the other pickles. (c) The salted cuttlefish pickle was found to contain only 5'-adenylic acid and 3'-adenylic acid. It has become evident from the above fact that clam and the invertebrate lack of adenylic deaminase and contain high content of adenylic acid. Thus, they were demonstrated to be the AMP-type. (d) 5'-Inosinic acid was contained in the salted yellow tail pickle in a significant concentration, and it might be considered to be IMP-type. 5. Comparative data for flavor with regard to the flavorous amino acids and the contents of 5'-mononucleotides are: (a) A specific flavor of salted yellow tail pickle was ascribed to the abundance in glutamic acid and aspartic acid, and to the existence of a small amount of flavorous 5'-inosinic acid. The combined effect of these components was belived to exhibit a synergistic action in producing a specific fiavor to the pickle. (b) A specific flavor of salted clam pickle has been demonstrated to be attributable to the richness in glutamic acid and aspartic acid rather than to that of 5'-mononucleotides.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.31 no.5
• /
• pp.931-938
• /
• 2002

The growth of enterobacteria, Bifidobacterium infantis KCTC 3270, was promoted by natural products bearing antioxidative capacity and mixed combinations of two, three and four kinds of them. B. infantis was expressed a good growth by Aurantii nobilis pericarpium majus L., Astragali radix, Epimedii herba, alone, and two mixed combinations of Epimedii herba and Theae folium, Epimedii herba and Crataegi fructus, Epimedii herba and Eucommiae cortex, and three mixed combinations of Theae folium, Epimedii herba and Chelidonium majus L., Theae folium, Epimedii herba and Aurantii nobilis pericarpium, Theae folium, Chelidonium majus L. and Auantii nobilis pericar pium, Theae folium, Chelidonium majus L. and Astragali radix, Theae folium, Aurantii nobilis pericarpium and puerariae radix, Epimedii herba, Chelidonium majus L. and Aurantii nobilis pericarpium, and four mixed com-binations of Theae folium, Chelidonium majus L., Astragali radix and Epimedii herba, and Theae folium, Chelidonium majus L., Astragali radix and Puerariae readix, and Theae folium, Epimedii herba, Aurantii nobilis pericarpium and Puerariae radix, and Theae folium, Chelidonium majus L., Aurantii nobilis pericarpium and Puerariae radix. The best four mixed combination ofr the growth of B. infantis was Theae folium, Chelidonium majus L. Astragali radix and Epimedii herba, which promoted 2.1 times than that of control, and its antioxidative capacity was also 5 times higher, and the ratio of elimination of hydroxyl radical was more than 80% in each dilution rate. As these combinations of natural products might activate some parts of body, they could be applied to pharmaceutical applications, functional foods, antiaging tea, also expected to promote useful bacterial growth for fermentative beverage bearing multifunction.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.28 no.6
• /
• pp.604-615
• /
• 2019

In this study, we produce a new type of the algae soil conditioner(ASC) using discarded algae biomass through a composting process and evaluate its nutritional characteristics. As the main ingredient, the ASCs used algae biomass collected through the coagulation-floating method and made by adding a variety of additional supporting materials (sawdust, pearlite, oilcake etc.). ASCs were divided into 0% in blank, 11.7% in ASC1, 21.6% in ASC2, 37.6% in ASC3, 59.5% in ASC4, and composted during 127 days. ASCs showed a sharp increase in temperature by aerobic microbial reaction, and 6~7 high and low temperature peaks were observed. As a result of physicochemical analysis, mineralization proceeded according to decomposing the organic matter and there was a marked increase not only in macronutrients (TN, P₂O₅, K₂O), but also in secondary macronutrients (CaO, MgO). The microbial community change was found in stage 1 (bacteria, filamentous fungi) → stage 2 (actinomycetes, bacteria) → stage 3 (Bacillus sp.), depending on the maturation process. It was estimated that microbial transition was closely related to temperature change and nutritional behavior. The quality of soil conditioner can be determined according to the maturity of compost process, and it was determined that effective microbial activity could be induced by controlling algae biomass below 59.5% in this study. In conclusion, we found out the possibility of manufacturing and utilizing soil conditioner recycled algae biomass and if further technological development is made on the basis it can be used as an effective soil conditioner.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.28 no.8
• /
• pp.885-891
• /
• 2018

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) toxin A is known to cause acute gut inflammation in humans and animals by triggering cytoskeletal disorganization in gut epithelial cells. In human colonocytes, toxin A blocks microtubule assembly by directly increasing the enzymatic activity of histone deacetylase-6 (HDAC-6), a tubulin-specific deacetylase, thereby markedly decreasing tubulin acetylation, which is essential for microtubule assembly. Microtubule assembly dysfunction-associated alterations (i.e., toxin A-exposed gut epithelial cells) are believed to trigger barrier dysfunction and gut inflammation downstream. We recently showed that potassium acetate blocked toxin A-induced microtubule disassembly by inhibiting HDAC-6. Herein, we tested whether acetic acid (AA), another small acetyl residue-containing agent, could block toxin A-induced tubulin deacetylation and subsequent microtubule assembly. Our results revealed that AA treatment increased tubulin acetylation and enhanced microtubule assembly in an HT29 human colonocyte cell line. AA also clearly increased tubulin acetylation in murine colonic explants. Interestingly, the AA treatment also alleviated toxin A-induced tubulin deacetylation and microtubule disassembly, and MTT assays revealed that AA reduced toxin A-induced cell toxicity. Collectively, these results suggest that AA can block the ability of toxin A to cause microtubule disassembly-triggered cytoskeletal disorganization by blocking toxin A-mediated deacetylation of tubulin.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.39 no.11
• /
• pp.1672-1677
• /
• 2010

The purpose of this study was to examine the qualities of muffins made with 0.1, 0.5, and 1% of Ecklonia cava hot water extracts (WEC). The muffins containing 0.1, 0.5, and 1% of WEC were acceptable by sensory evaluation such as color, flavor, taste, texture, and overall acceptability. The moisture contents of muffins made with WEC were not significantly different from muffins not containing WEC (control) during the early storage period (p<0.05), whereas after 3 days of storage, the moisture contents of muffins made with WEC were higher than that of control. The total microbial count in muffins made with 1% of WEC decreased as compared to that of control with an increase in storing time. The antioxidative activities, DPPH radical scavenging and superoxide dismutase-like activity of muffins increased with an increase in the concentrations of WEC. These results suggest that the addition of WEC to muffins has a good effect on improving the shelf-life and overall quality.