• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.47-57
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• 2005

To investigate the characteristics of edible flowers as a food material, we have examined the kinds, colors, sizes, fresh weights, pigments and shipping periods of edible flowers marketed on the cropping farms, selling agencies and Internet shopping malls from February through September, 2005. Thirty six kinds of edible flowers were marketed in Korea, and all but the chrysanthemum were introduced species. The characteristics of edible flowers were shown differently by the varieties following the same kinds of flowers. Those colors were yellow (twenty five kinds), red (twenty three), pink (twenty), white (eighteen), and orange (sixteen). Flower diameters were measured and showed that seven kinds of edible flowers were 1.0 to 2.0cm, fourteen 2.0 to 3.0cm, sixteen 3.0 to 4.0cm, eight 4.0 to 5.0cm, and nine over 5.0cm. Flower fresh weights were measured as follows: twenty one kinds of edible flowers were under 0.5g ($58.3\%$), eight were $0.6\∼1.0g(22.2\%$), and six were $1.1{\∼}1.5g(16.7\%$). The taste of edible flowers was often bitter (twenty one kinds), sweet and sour (seven), somewhat fragrant (six), fishy (three), and others (nine). The pigments of edible flowers were anthoxanthin (twenty seven kinds), flavonoid (twenty three), carotenoid (seventeen), and betanidin (four).

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.235-242
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• 2012

The excellence of pigmented rice with respect to its nutritional composition was proven and the physicochemical properties of five kinds of rice (Jindo black rice, Jindo jeongmi, Boseong black rice, red rice, and green rice) were compared. The crude protein content of black rice harvested in Boseong (10.15%) were higher than that of the other varieties. The crude fat contents of pigmented rice (black, red, and green) were higher than those of polished rice (Jindo-jeongmi and black rice). Boseong black rice had the highest crude fat content. The major free sugar types in the rice varieties were maltose and glucose. The major mineral contents of the unpolished rice (pigmented rice) varieties were as follows: of P, 361.32~570.11 mg%; K, 196.63~210.04 mg%; Mg, 104.11~128.02 mg%; Na, 2.49~8.14 mg%; and Ca, 12.10~16.82 mg%. The major fatty acids in the five kinds of rice were linoleic acid, oleic acid and palmitic acid. The fatty acid contents of the rice varieties did not differ significantly. The black rice (Boseong) had a higher amino acid content than the other varieties. The hunter color values of rice varieties were affected by the colors of tha samples. The L (lightness) value of black rice (Jindo, Boseong) was lower than that of the other samples. The thiamine and riboflavin contents of the red rice (0.48 mg/100 g and 0.14 mg/100 g, respectively) were higher than those of the other varieties (thiamine: 0.36~0.24 mg/100 g and riboflavin: 0.09~0.06 mg/100 g). The hardness of the rice varieties differed significantly (10.75~14.64 kg).

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.257-264
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• 2009

A neurotoxin, 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) has been widely used to create animal model for Parkinson's disease (PD) due to its specific toxicity against dopaminergic (DA) neurons. Since DA signals modulate a broad spectrum of CNS physiology, one can expect profound alterations in neuroendocrine activities of both PD patients and 6-OHDA treated animals. Limited applications of 6-OHDA injection model, however, have been made on the studies of hypothalamuspituitary neuroendocrine circuits. The present study was performed to examine whether blockade of brain catecholamine (CA) biosynthesis with 6-OHDA can make any alteration in the transcriptional activities of hypothalamus-pituitary hormone genes in adult male rats. Three-month-old male rats (SD strain) were received 6-OHDA ($200{\mu}g$ in $10{\mu}\ell$ of saline/animal) by intracerebroventricular (icv) injection, and sacrificed after two weeks. To determine the mRNA levels of hypothalamuspituitary hormone genes, total RNAs were extracted and applied to the semi-quantitative RT-PCRs. The mRNA levels of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme for the catecholamine biosynthesis, were significantly lower than those from the control group (control:6-OHDA=1:0.72${\pm}$0.02AU, p<0.001), confirming the efficacy of 6-OHDA injection. The mRNA levels of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) in the hypothalami from 6-OHDA group were significantly lower than those from the control group (GnRH, control:6-OHDA=1:0.39${\pm}$0.03AU, p<0.001; CRH, control:6-OHDA=1:0.76${\pm}$0.07AU, p<0.01). There were significant decreases in the mRNA levels of common alpha subunit of glycoprotein homones (Cg$\alpha$), LH beta subunit (LH-$\beta$), and FSH beta subunit (FSH-$\beta$) in pituitaries from 6-OHDA group compared to control values (Cg$\alpha$, control:6-OHDA=1:0.81${\pm}$0.02AU, p<0.001; LH-$\beta$, control:6-OHDA=1:0.68${\pm}$0.04AU, p<0.001; FSH-$\beta$, control:6-OHDA=1:0.84${\pm}$0.05AU, p<0.001). Similarly, the level of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) transcripts from 6-OHDA group was significantly lower than that from the control group (control: 6-OHDA=1:0.86${\pm}$0.04AU, p<0.01). The present study demonstrated that centrally injected DA neurotoxin could downregulate the transcriptional activities of the two hypothalamus-pituitary neuroendocrine circuits, i.e., GnRH-gonadotropins and CRH-ACTH systems. These results suggested that hypothalamic CA input might affect on the activities of gonad and adrenal through modulation of hypothalamus-pituitary function, providing plausible explanation for frequent occurrence of sexual dysfunction and poor stress-response in PD patients.