• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.656-665
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• 1993

Two types of baby corn silk detachment systems called fixing and moving baby corn and based on applying frictional force on the silk were developed and evaluated. In the fixing mode the baby corn was fixed on a pin and a hollow frictional cylinder was moved concentrically and vertically along the baby corn towards the branch end. In the moving mode the baby corn was forced vertically towards the tip to pass through the same silk detachment cylinder. Traveling speeds of the detachment cylinder and the baby corn were 44.5 and 166.9 mm/s. In the fixing mode at silk moisture content of 91 % (w.b) silk detachment efficiencies at low and high speeds were 99.1 and 99.2%. The silk detachment efficiencies in the moving mode at low and high speeds were 96.6 and 98.5%. Damaged baby corn at low speed was less than at high speed in both modes. Minimum damage was nil in the fixing mode at low speed and the maximum was 47.5% in the moving mode at high speed. The damaged was due to ovaries r moval at the base near the joint between the baby corn and the branch.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.15-18
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• 1998

Receptivity of corn silk to pollen decreases with time. For effective pollination, it is important to study the receptivity of corn silks in relation to time elapsed after their emergence. Two commercial corn hybrids, 'Kwanganog' and 'Suwon 19', were tested for their silk growth and effects of delayed pollination on kernel development for 1 to 13 days after emergence of the first silk. Silks elongated rapidly for the first 3 days and then gradually decreased. Silks grew more than 30mm per day for the first 3 days and stopped growing on the 11 or 12th day after emergence of the first silk. Filled ear length decreased slowly for the first 8 days, and then decreased rapidly. Similar trends were observed for number of kernel rows and number of kernels per row or ear. The highest numbers of kernels per row or ear were observed when plants were pollinated 2-4 days after silking. These numbers decreased gradually up to 8 days, and then decreased sharply. This result indicates that 8 day-delayed pollination has no influence on kernel development. There were negative correlations between silk length and ear characteristics except kernel weight. Silk growth rate was positively correlated with filled ear length, row number, and kernel number. It might be assumed that delayed pollination by one week after the first silk emerged would not affect on kernel set.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2013

This study was carried out to evaluate the dyeing possibility of purple corn stem and leaf. The UV absorbance of the purple corn stem extract and leaf extract at different pH does not change. It is considered to use to efficiently measure the purple corn pigment content when using UV absorbance at 520~560 nm. By adjusting higher pH values in the extraction dyed fabrics, silk and cotton fabric used by the purple corn leaf extraction decreased lightness and redness. Extent for dyeing the fabric depending on the concentration, lightness and redness showed a tendency to increase color values when silk and cotton concentration increases. Also when the longer the dyeing time, silk and cotton increased lightness but redness decreased.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.138-142
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• 2006

Various levels of antibacterial activity have been identified for water and ethanol extracts of corn silk, particularly against Salmonella typhimurium KCTC 2515. In general, the water extract was more effective than the ethanol extract. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the water extract was 7.5 mg/disc for S. typhimurium KCTC 2515 and B. cereus KCTC 1092, as well as for the ethanol extract against S. typhimurium KCTC 2515 and S. typhimurium KCTC 1925. However, the MICs for the water extract were lower than those for the ethanol extract against all bacteria tested, except S. typhimurium KCTC 1925 and B. cereus KCTC 1014. The growth of the tested organisms in the synthesized broth medium was inhibited with the addition of 5-fold levels of MIC. Using sterilized milk as the model food system, we found that the lag phase for these microorganisms was extended up to 3 days at $20^{\circ}C$, but was not affected at $4^{\circ}C$. These results indicate that bacterial growth was strongly inhibited by corn silk extract at $20^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.217-228
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• 2019

There have been no published studies concerning the anti-inflammatory effects of corn silk on colon cancer cells. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of corn silk extract containing high levels of maysin on inflammation and its mechanism of action in colon cancer cells. SW 480 human colon cancer cells were treated with $1{\mu}g/mL$ of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce inflammation, and next they were treated with different concentrations of corn silk extract (0, 5, 10 and $15{\mu}g/mL$). The concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) were determined. The mRNA expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), tumor necrosis factor ${\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$), interleukin-1beta ($IL-1{\beta}$) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), were determined. Western blot analysis was performed to determine the protein expressions of nuclear factor-kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) and mitogen-activated protein kinases, and the latter consists of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK), c-jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAP kinase (p38). The concentration of NO and the mRNA expression of iNOS were significantly and dose-dependently decreased in the corn silk-treated groups (P<0.05). The mRNA expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$, $IL-1{\beta}$ and IL-6 were significantly increased in the LPS-treated group (P<0.05), but these expressions were significantly and dose-dependently decreased in the corn silk treated groups (P<0.05). The protein expressions of $NF-{\kappa}B$ (in a dose-dependent fashion), ERK (at 10 and $15{\mu}g/mL$), JNK (at $15{\mu}g/mL$) and p38 (at 10 and $15{\mu}g/mL$) were significantly decreased with corn silk treatments (P<0.05). In conclusion, corn silk extract containing high levels of maysin seems to inhibit the LPS-induced inflammatory responses in SW480 colon cancer cells via the $NF-{\kappa}B$ pathway.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.710-713
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• 2017

This study evaluates the ability of corn silk (Zea mays L.) extract to function as a natural anti-inflammatory and anti-atopic therapeutic agent. The anti-inflammatory effects of corn silk were evaluated by measuring the inhibitory activities of nitric oxide (NO) and production of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$. Anti-atopic effects were assessed by measuring the repression of thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC). These results indicated that NICS-1 (corn silk ethanol extract) and NICS-3 (high maysin corn silk ethanol extract) functioned as anti-inflammatory agents by down-regulating LPS-induced NO and TNF-${\alpha}$. Additionally, two extracts showed weak repression of TARC expression levels in tumor necrosis factor TNF-${\alpha}$ plus IFN-${\gamma}$ induced HaCaT cells, respectively. These results suggest that corn silk extracts have anti-inflammatory and anti-atopic activities, and thus have the potential to reduce and alleviate the symptoms associated with atopic dermatitis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.8
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• pp.1195-1199
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• 2011

Inactivation of foodborne pathogenic bacteria in corn silk tea was evaluated using a microwave plasma sterilization system (MPSS). Corn silk tea was inoculated with Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes, treated with an MPSS treatment, and stored at 25$^{\circ}C$ for 12 days. The one, two, and three cycles of treatment with MPSS reduced the population of E. coli by 1.14, 2.49, and 5.72 log CFU/mL, respectively, compared to that of the control. In the case of L. monocytogenes, one, two, and three cycles of MPSS treatment reduced the population by 1.93, 4.49, and 6.62 log CFU/mL, respectively. Both E. coli and L. monocytogenes were eliminated within four cycles of treatment with MPSS, and even after 12 days of storage, the bacteria were not detected. Total polyphenol content in the corn silk tea did not change much among treatments, and turbidity of the corn silk tea improved following four cycles of MPSS treatment. These results suggest that MPSS treatment can be useful for improving the microbial safety and quality of corn silk tea during storage.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1399-1407
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• 2015

Klebsiella pneumoniae is found in the normal flora of the skin, mouth, respiratory tract, urinary tract, and intestines in human. However, the stain is opportunistic pathogen, which is the causative agent of community acquired pneumonia. Corn silk has been known to be effective for antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria, including K. pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Shigella spp., Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, et al. In this study we focused on the antimicrobial properties of con silk water extract of K. penumoniae. K. pneumoniae isolates K. pneumoniae ATCC 13883 and broad-spectrum β-lactamase (BSBL), exteded-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL), carbapenemase-producers. Antimicrobial susceptibilities were determined by the disk diffusion method. Searches for bla genes were performed by PCR amplication and direct sequencing. MacConkey agar plate medium was prepared using the corn silk extracts (50% or 100%) instead of distilled water for antimicrobial activity test. The microbial growth inhibitory potential of K. pneumoniae was determined by using the MacConkey agar plate spreading method, and the plate was incubated 18 hr at 37℃. Genes encoding β-lactamases including SHV-1 (n=8), SHV-2a (n=8), SHV-5 (n=2), SHV-11 (n=2), SHV-12 (n=18), TEM-1 (n=10), CTX-M-3 (n=2), CTX-M-14 (n=2), CTX-M-15 (n=1), GES-5 (n=5), KPC-2 (n=6), KPC-3 (n=4), and NDM-1 (n=2) were detected. The corn silk extract showed significantly antimicrobial activity against K. pneumoniae ATCC 13883, but BSBLs, ESBLs, and carbapenemase producers were not. Therefore, corn silk extract is thought to be able to assist in the prevention and rapid recovery of infectious disease caused by K. pneumoniae.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.319-323
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• 1997

Effect of various fraction from corn silk on alcohol metaholism in rats were examined and the results were as follows: ethanol souhle fraction. after a single oral administration to rats. was found to cause a significant deL'I'ease in the serum ethanol concentration as well as enh.lJ1cement of liver eytosolie ADH activity, on the other hand. the fraction imouhle in ethanol was found to cause an increase in the blood ethanol concentration and inhihit ADH activity.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.184-190
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• 2016

We investigated the antioxidative and protective effects of corn silk (Zea mays L.) ethanol extracts on human HaCaT cells and erythrocytes. The NICS-2 fraction, extracted from corn silk, exhibited favorable 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging activities with $IC_{50}$valuesof$13.3{\pm}0.3{\mu}g/mL$ and $14.2{\pm}0.1{\mu}g/mL$ when compared with those of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol, a positive control, with $IC_{50}=10.4{\pm}02.2$ and $22.2{\pm}3.6{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. In addition, we investigated skin protection effects of NICS extracts of corn silk in HaCaT keratinocytes. To investigate the pharmacological potential of NICS-1 and NICS-2 extracts of corn silk on UV-B-induced damage in HaCaT cells, we measured the activity of interleukin (IL) 1a. Our results showed that all the corn silk extracts inhibited the UV-B-induced activity of IL-1a. In particular, NICS-1 extracts of corn silk significantly suppressed IL-1a activity in a dose-dependent manner without inducing cytotoxicity. These results indicate that the ethanol extracts of corn silk (Zea mays L.) could function as natural cytoprotective agents and antioxidants in biological systems, particularly the skin exposed to UV radiation, by protecting cellular membrane against reactive oxygen species (ROS).