• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2017

BACKGROUND : Environmental stress has a major effect on the growth and yields of vegetables, and can significantly affect nutritionally important phytochemicals, causing large economic losses. METHODS AND RESULTS : The present study was aimed at exploring the effects of water stress on the carotenoid and proline contents in kale leaves to understand drought tolerance of kale plants. Kale was randomly divided into two groups at 57 days after sowing (DAS). One of the groups was well-watered (WW) and the other was water stressed (WS). Harvesting of kale leaves was started one day after treatment (58 DAS) and continued for 10 days (~67 DAS). We investigated the status of plant growth (leaf number, length, width, fresh weight) of kale throughout the study. Carotenoid (lutein, ${\alpha}-carotene$, zeaxanthin, ${\beta}-carotene$) and proline contents were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Our results showed that the total carotenoid contents ranged from 926.0 to 1,212.0 mg/kg dry wt. (at 3 and 2 days, respectively) in WW treatment and 887.8 to 1,157.4 mg/kg dry wt. (at 10 and 4 days, respectively) in WS treatment. The ratio of individual carotenoid to the total carotenoid contents of kale leaves was 51.4 for lutein, 4.44 for zeaxanthin, 2.76 for ${\alpha}-carotene$, and 41.4% for ${\beta}-carotene$. Total carotenoid contents showed a significant reduction from 7 days (1,037.2 mg/kg dry wt.) to 10 days (887.8 mg/kg dry wt.) in WS treatment. The lutein content did not show a significant difference in WW between 7 and 10 days after treatment but showed a significant difference in WS treatment. The ${\alpha}-carotene$ content showed no significant difference between the treatments. However, zeaxanthin content was higher during 4-10 days and ${\beta}-carotene$ content was lower during 6-10 days in WS than in WW on each harvest day. In WW, the proline content showed no significant difference, but in WS, the proline content started to increase at 7 days and almost doubled in 10 days. CONCLUSION : The marked increase in zeaxanthin and proline contents in kale leaves indicated that the two phytochemicals are associated with drought tolerance in the plant.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.325-331
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• 2009

To efficiently express a gene of interest in transgenic plants, the choice of promoter is a crucial factor as it directly affects the expression of the transgene that will yield the desired phenotype. The Arabidopsis ${\beta}-carotene$ hydroxylase 1 gene (AtBch1) shows constitutive and ubiquitous expression and was thus selected as one of best candidates for constitutive promoter analysis by both in silico northern blotting and semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis. To investigate AtBch1 promoter activity, the 1,981-bp 5'-upstream region of this gene was fused with ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ (GUS) and transformed into Arabidopsis. Through the molecular characterization of transgenic leaf tissues, the AtBch1 promoter generated strong activity that drives 1.8- and 2-fold higher GUS expression than the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S (35S) promoter at the transcriptional and translational levels, respectively. Furthermore, the GUS enzyme activity driven by the AtBch1 promoter was 2.8-fold higher than that produced by the 35S promoter. By histochemical GUS staining, the ubiquitous expression of the AtBch1 promoter was observed in all tissues of Arabidopsis. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis with different tissues further showed that this promoter serves as a strong constitutive driver of transgene expression in dicot plants.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.69-73
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• 1994

Sporangiophores (spphs) of Phycomyces blakesleeanus are positively phototropic to unilateral visible (blue) light over a range of fluence rates 10$^{-9}$ to 1 W/m$^2$. The maximal bending angle is always 70-75$\circ$ from the vertical. Many mutants with abnormal phototropism have been isolated. Complementation tests revealed that the genetic grouping is completely consistent with the phenotypic classification scheme, based on sensory responses other than those to light. The spph of the piloboloid mutant, the growth zone of which gradually ceases elongation but expands spherically, and the $\beta$-carotene-overproducing mutant show negative phototropism, in contrast to the wild type spph. We hypothesized that the phototropic orientation of spph is determined by the ratio of the maximal light fluenee rate at the proximal side to that at the distal side of the spph. Based on this hypothesis, we found that the maximal bending angle was larger in thin spphs than in thick ones, and larger in spphs containing smaller amount of $\beta$-carotene than in carotene-rich spphs. In addition to our hypothesis, gravitropic experiments revealed that the maximal bending angle of the wild type spph results from a balance among positive phototropism, negative gravitropism, and the optical properties of the spph. For further advancement of this study, we developed a mutant with a high proportion of uninucleate spores, and designed an efficient microinjection method for obtaining transformants.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.440-447
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• 2004

In this study the in vitro protective effects of several antioxidant vitamins (vitamin C, $\alpha$-tocopherol, $\beta$-carotene), fruits and vegetables (strawberry, tangerine, orange and 100％ orange juice, carrot juice), on the levels of isolated human lymphocyte DNA damage was measured using Comet assay. Comet assay has been used widely to assess the level of the DNA damage in the individual cells. Lymphocytes were pre-treated for 30 minutes with antioxidant vitamins (10, 50, 100, 500 $\mu$M) or fruits$.$vegetables (10, 100, 500, 1000 $\mu$g/ml), an4 then oxidatively challenged with 100 $\mu$M $H_2O$$_2$ for 5 min at 4$^{\circ}C$. The protective effect of antioxidant vitamins against DNA damage at a concentration of 50 $\mu$M were 50％ in vitamin C, 32％ in $\alpha$-tocopherol, whereas, fJ-carotene showed a 55％ protection at a dose as low as 10 $\mu$M. The inhibitory effects of DNA damage by strawberry, tangerine, orange, orange juices, carrot juices were 50 - 60％ with wide ranges of doses. The results of the present study indicate that most the antioxidant vitamins and fruits$.$vegetables juices produced a significant reduction in oxidative DNA damage.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1297-1306
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• 1998

Carotenoids are yellow to orange red pigments that are ubiquitous in the nature and its annual pro duction amounts to one hundred million ton. This review discussed physicochemical properties, antiox idative activity, anticancer activity of carotenoids and its production technology. Carotenoids, mainly used as food colourants, are characterized by its strong reactive conjugated double bonds, related to oxidation by heat, light, acid, and metal ions. The provitamin A activity of carotenoids is higher in trans form than in cis form. Antioxidative properties of carotenoids are related to ionone structure and long, conjugated polyene chain number. In particular, carotene, astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, and lycopene possess strong antioxidant activity, compared with tocopherol. Especially, carotene, astaxanthin, carotene, fucoxanthin, halocynthiaxanthin and peridinin impart strong anticancer activity against lung cancer, breast cancer, buccal pouch cancer and nerve cell cancer. Carotene and astaxanthin are produced by biotechnology using algae such as Dunaliella salina and Haematococcus pluvalis. But the change of cultivation conditions and screening of algae, efficiently producing carotenoids, are needed for its commercial production. Carotenoids are expected to be used in the various fields through explanation of its biological activity and establishment of commercial production technology.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.60-66
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• 1995

The oxidation of purified pinenut oil containing various concentration of tocopherols and β-carotene were studied. α-tocopherol revealed an antioxidant activity at the concentration of lower than 0.05%, however, it showed a prooxidant activity when the concentration was higher than 0.05%. The antioxidant activity of γ-tocopherol was not affected by the concentraitons in the range of 0.01∼0.10% in pinenut oil. γ -Tocopherol resulted in higher antioxidant activity than that of α-tocopherol. β -carotene seemed to be a prooxidant when 0.01% of β-carotene was added. The fatty acids composition of purified pinenut oil have been changed during autoxidation. The concentration of linoleic acid decreased readly while oleic acid seemed to increase. And the concentration of saturated fatty acid has'nt been changed much during autoxidation.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.355-362
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• 2004

Studies on extraction and color stability of carotenoids from astringent persimmon(Diospyros kaki) were performed to provide the basic information for the utilization of persimmon pigment as a new source of natural food colorant. The major carotenoids in astringent persimmon were beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and beta-carotene. Beta-cryptoxanthin was the first major pigment and lycopene the next. Total carotenoid content in persimmon calculated as beta-carotene equivalent was 107.4 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g. The data indicated that the astringent persimmon was a good source of carotenoid pigment. The physical and chemical stabilities of carotenoid from astringent persimmon were investigated at various conditions of temperature, pH and antioxidant. The effects of oxygen and light on the stability of carotenoid pigment has been investigated. The factors that cause the discoloration were visible light, temperature above 60, pH below 5 and oxygen. Especially, the carotenoid pigment was very sensitive to light and oxygen. Carotenoid stability was much improved with increasing nitrogen concentration in the atmosphere. Persimmon pigments have been found to be most stable at 5∼10. And tocopherol was the most effective inhibitor of the pigment discoloration.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.312-319
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• 2015

In this study, n-butanol and ethyl acetate extracts were prepared from raw yam (Dioscorea batatas DECNE.). Their antioxidative potencies were investigated employing various in vitro methods, such as ferrous ion chelating, ${\beta}$-carotene bleaching assay, lipid peroxidation inhibition and nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging and nitrite scavenging activity. The n-butanol fraction was assayed to possess stronger antioxidant activity by ${\beta}$-carotene bleaching assay, lipid peroxidation inhibition and NO radical scavenging activity. However, ethyl acetate extract was more effective in chelating ferrous ion and scavenging nitrite. Based on the results obtained, yam is a potential active ingredient that could be applied in antioxidation as well as bio-health functional food to take a good part in prevention of human diseases and aging.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.596-599
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• 2000

30 kinds of natural products were considered for developing natural antioxidants by improved D.O. analyzing method including simple calculation of Area Under Curve. Several natural products such as Cimicifuge Rhizoma, Epimedii Herba, Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba, Acori Graminei Rhizoma, Mori Cortex Radicis, Aurantii Nobilis Pericarpium were bore nearly same antioxidant effects compared to synthetic powerful antioxidant BHT and also expressed powerful antioxidant effect than ${\beta}-carotene$ such as Eucommiae Cortex, Cinnamomi Cortex, Angelicae Gigantis Radix, Lycii Furctus, Acanthopanacis Cortex, Sophorae Radix, Paeoniae Radix, Geranii Herba. Another method of DPPH was performed for searching natural antioxidant from natural product. Sophorae Radix, Puerariae Radix, Aurantii Nobilis Pericarpium, Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba, Acori Graminei Rhizoma, Corni Fructus, Angelicae Gigantis Radix, Paeoniae Radix were carried higher antioxidant capacity than ${\beta}-carotene$ by DPPH method.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.162-170
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• 2007

Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz. (Lythraceae), commonly known as Dhayero, is used in the treatment of various ailments in Nepal. In this study, the antioxidant capacity of crude extract and different polarity fractions of Woodfordia fruticosa flowers were assayed for their scavenging abilities against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide radicals, competitive ${\beta}$-carotene bleaching, reducing power, metal chelating ability and total phenolic content. Crude extract and polar fractions showed stronger antioxidant capacity and contained very high level of total phenolics. They exhibited strong DPPH radical scavenging, nitric oxide scavenging and reducing power, medium ${\beta}$-carotene bleaching and poor metal chelating capacity. Positive correlation obtained between total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity assays, indicated the contribution of phenolics toards antioxidant capacity.