• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.165-172
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• 2009

The bramble cultivated widely in South Korea, which is known as Bokbunja-ddal-gi, is regarded as having originated from Korean native Rubus coreanus. This study was carried out to obtain basic phylogenetic information on Korean cultivated bramble (KCB) by comparing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions with those of R. coreanus, blackberry (R. lanciniatus), black (R. occidentalis) and red (R. idaeus) raspberry. Sequences of the ITS 1 suggest that some KCB accessions share a significant similarity with both R. occidentalis and R. coreanus in the ITS 1 region. The ITS 2 sequences of the three KCB accessions clustered more closely to those of two R. occidentalis accessions than to those of R. coreanus. These results suggest that there exist variations in the sequences of ITS among KCB accessions and KCB accessions are more closely related to black raspberry than R. coreanus in the ITS regions.

• Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2008

Korean cultivated bramble, which is known as Bokbunja-ddal-gi is regarded to be originated from Korea native Rubus coreanus. However, little scientific evidence and significant morphological differences between Korean cultivated bramble(KCB) and R. coreanus throw doubt on the ancestry of KCB. This study was carried out to obtain phylogenetic information on KCB by comparing its nuclear genomic background with those of R. coreanus, black(R. occidentalis) and red(R. idaeus) raspberry, blackberry(R. lanciniatus) and R. crataegifolius. A total of 99 random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) markers were generated and used for phylogenetic analysis of 76 Rubus accessions. Accessions of each species were grouped into each distinct subclade by the RAPD markers at a similarity coefficient of about 0.59. The KCB subclade formed a clade with R. occidentalis and R. crataegifolius subclades at a similarity coefficient of 0.47. The R. coreanus subclade formed a clade with R. idaeus, R. lanciniatus and R. crataegifolius subclades at a similar similarity coefficient. Only one KCB accession from Hoengsung was included in R. coreanus subclade. The accession shows leaf and flower characteristics different from the rest of the KCB accessions. The phylogenetic relationship inferred from the RAPD markers suggests that the nuclear genomic background of KCB accessions which show morphological similarity to black raspberry is more closely related to black raspberry than to R. coreanus. This brings about the need for close scientific evaluations on the ancestry of KCB at both morphological and molecular levels.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1842-1848
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• 2015

Cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) has been known to be more bioavailable than cyanidin-3-rutinoside (C3R), the most abundant anthocyanin in black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis). The aim of this study was to enhance the bioavailability of anthocyanins in black raspberry by cleaving ʟ-rhamnose in C3R using crude enzyme extracts (CEEs) from Aspergillus usamii KCTC 6956, A. awamori KCTC 60380, A. niger KCCM 11724, A. oryzae KCCM 12698, and A. kawachii KCCM 32819. The enzyme activities of the CEEs were determined by a spectrophotometric method using ρ-nitrophenyl-rhamnopyranoside and ρ-nitrophenyl-glucopyranoside. The CEE from A. usamii had the highest α-ʟ-rhamnosidase activity with 2.73 U/ml at 60℃, followed by those from A. awamori and A. niger. When bioconversion of C3R to C3G in black raspberry was analyzed by HPLC-DAD, the CEEs from A. usamii and A. awamori hydrolyzed 95.7% and 95.6% of C3R to C3G, respectively, after 2 h incubation. The CEEs from A. kawachii and A. oryzae did not convert C3R to C3G in black raspberry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.507-515
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• 2014

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which is commonly found in aging men, is characterized by hyperplasia of prostatic stromal and epithelial cells beginning in the periurethral zone of the prostate. The prevalence of BPH increases in an age-dependent manner. Here, we investigated the protective effects of unripe Rubus occidentalis extracts (UROE) on BPH development using a prostate cancer cell line and testosterone-induced BPH rat model. Experiments using an established hormone-dependent prostate cancer cell line (LNCaP) showed that UROE treatment significantly decreased expression of androgen-related genes, including androgen receptor (AR), prostate specific antigen (PSA), and 5-alpha reductase 2, but not 5-alpha reductase 1, which was also observed in flutamide-treated cells. Further, AR and PSA gene expression was reduced by UROE treatment under androgen-stimulated conditions using dihydrotestosterone (DHT). BPH animals displayed elevated prostate weights. However, UROE as well as finasteride treatment significantly reduced prostate weights and DHT levels compared to testosterone-induced BPH animals. Histopathological analysis also showed that UROE treatment suppressed testosterone-induced prostatic hyperplasia. Taken together, the results suggest that UROE may effectively inhibit the development of BPH and thus may be a useful agent in BPH treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.9
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• pp.1357-1362
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• 2014

This study compared the antioxidant effects of two kinds of black raspberry extract, obtained from fruits of Rubus coreanus and Rubus occidentalis, which can be found in Korea. The fruits of R. coreanus and R. occidentalis were each extracted with 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% ethanol (EtOH). Among the extracts of these two varieties, 50% EtOH extract of R. occidentalis showed the highest contents of total polyphenols ($46.96{\pm}2.78mg/g$) and flavonoid compounds ($11.77{\pm}0.81mg/g$). The 50% EtOH extract of R. occidentalis showed the highest antioxidant activity ($84.77{\pm}0.97%$) in terms of DPPH radical scavenging activity. On the contrary, 25% EtOH extract of R. occidentalis showed the best antioxidant activity ($29.65{\pm}2.41%$) in terms of ABTS radical scavenging activity. In the results of ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, 50% EtOH extract of R. occidentalis showed the highest antioxidant activity ($0.49{\pm}0.02%$). In the cytotoxicity test stimulated with $H_2O_2$, the extracts of 75% and 100% EtOH from R. occidentalis showed the highest cell viability ($93.54{\pm}3.37%$ and $97.19{\pm}0.74%$, respectively). According to our results, extracts of R. occidentalis showed higher antioxidant activities than extracts of R. coreanus. Especially, total polyphenol and flavonoid contents of R. occidentalis showed the highest significant correlation with FRAP by Pearson's correlation (P=0.005 and P=0.013, respectively).

• 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 Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.266-272
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• 2010

There is a considerable difference in morphological traits between Bokbunja cultivated in Korea (KCB) and Korea native Rubus coreanus, contrary to the conviction that the cultivated Bokbunja is the domestication of R. coreanus. To infer the phylogenetic relationship of KCB with other Rubus species, we compared the chloroplast DNA spacers of KCB with those of several Rubus species including black raspberry, R. occidentalis. The three chloroplast DNA spacers, atpB~rbcL, trnL~trnF, and trnT~trnL, were amplified using the specific primer pairs and converted to Single Strand Conformational Polymorphism (SSCP) markers. The SSCP makers of the chloroplast DNA spacers showed a considerable variation both within and among Rubus species. In the phylogenetic tree generated by the SSCP markers, KCB accessions were located in the same clade with R. occidentalis, but R. coreanus accessions in the different clade. Also, in the phylogenetic tree by the nucleotide sequences of the chloroplast DNA spacer trnL~trnF, KCB located in the same clade with R. occidentalis but not with R. coreanus. These results suggest that the three KCB accessions share higher similarity with R. occidentalis than with R. coreanus in the three chloroplast DNA spacers.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.97-104
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• 2008

Cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H) is a key enzyme of phenylpropanoid pathway, which leads a variety of secondary metabolites to participate in differentiation and protection of plant against environmental stresses. In this study, we isolated a full-length cDNA of the C4H gene from a black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.), using a reverse transcriptase-PCR and rapid amplification of the cDNA ends (RACE)-PCR. The full-length cDNA of the RocC4H gene contained a 1,515 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 504 amino acid protein with a calculated molecular weight of about 57.9 kDa and an isoelectric point (pI) value of 9.1. The genomic DNA analysis revealed that RocC4H gene had three exons and two introns. By multiple sequence alignment, RocC4H protein was highly homologous with other plant C4Hs, and the cytochrome P450-featured motifs, such as the heme-binding domain, the T-containing binding pocket motif (AAIETT), the ERR triad, and the tetrapeptide (PPGP) hinge motif, were highly conserved. Southern blot analysis revealed that RocC4H is a single copy gene in R. occidentalis.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.773-780
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• 2015

Lactic acid fermentation of black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) juice was carried out by using the Lactobacillus plantarum GBL17 strain. The sterilized black raspberry juice was fermented using the L. plantarum GBL17 strain at $30^{\circ}C$ for 72 hours after which the total acidity increased and the pH value decreased. In addition, the highest total acidity content (2.38%) was reached, the lowest pH value (3.22) was observed, and the sugar content decreased by $9.8^{\circ}Brix$ after the 72 hour fermentation. The number of viable cells rapidly increased up until 24 hours, after which it gradually decreased. HPLC analysis of the organic acids showed 14.51 mg/g of lactic acid content in the fermented black raspberry juice, which was not detected in the non-fermented black raspberry juice (control). The content of fructose and glucose slightly decreased after fermentation. The total polyphenol and flavonoid contents of the fermented black raspberry juice increased significantly after fermentation. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of fermented black raspberry juice (70.92%) was higher than that of the control (62.96%). After lactic acid fermentation, there was no significant increase in ABTS radical scavenging activity. These results confirm that lactic acid bacteria, such as L. plantarum GBL17, showed generally higher activities with a potential as a functional beverage.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.121-128
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• 2008

Flavanone-3-hydroxylase (F3H) is one of the key enzymes for the biosynthesis of flavonals, anthocyanins, catechins and proanthocyanins. F3H catalyzes the $3{\beta}$-hydroxylation of (2S)-flavonones to form (2R, 3R)-dihydroflavonols. In this report, we isolated a full-length cDNA of RocF3H from black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.) using a reverse transcriptase-PCR and rapid amplification of the cDNA ends (RACE)-PCR. The full-length cDNA of RocF3H contains a 1,098 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 365 amino acid protein with a calculated molecular weight of about 41.1 kDa and isoelectric point (pI) of 5.45. The genomic DNA analysis revealed that the RocF3H gene had three exons and two introns. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of the RocF3H with other F3Hs revealed that the protein is highly homologous with various plant species. The conserved amino acids ligating the ferrous iron and the residues participating in the 2-oxoglutarate binding (R-X-S) were found in RocF3H at the similar positions to other F3Hs. Southern blot analysis indicated that RocF3H exist a multi-gene family. The isolation of RocF3H gene will be helpful to further study the role of F3H gene in the biosynthesis of flavonoids in R. occidnetalis.