• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1344-1351
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• 2012

We studied the physical, chemical, biological, and antimicrobial effects of eight types of essential oils used in the cosmetics industry: lavender, tea tree, rosemary, juniper berry, Chamaecyparis obtusa, cypress, cedar wood, and pine. Lavender oil had a linalyl acetate (an ester chemical compound) content of 48% and radical scavenging activity of 22.36% at 5,000 ppm. Tea tree oil had radical scavenging activity of 43.94% at 5,000 ppm and antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. mutans, and C. albicans in each 6, 3.5, 6.5, and 5 mm, respectively. Chamaecyparis obtusa oil had the highest acidity (pH 2.64) compared with the other oils, and sesquiterpene compounds were found to have 19.20%. Cedar wood oil had the highest specific gravity and refractive index compared to the other oils and had a sesquiterpene content of 99.73%. The radical scavenging activity of cedar wood essential oil exceeded 39.68% at 5,000 ppm. The clear zone, indicating antimicrobial activity against P. acnes, P. ovale, and C. albicans, was 3.5, 6, and 6 mm, respectively, at a concentration of 1% cedar wood oil. Results showed that with a high sesquiterpene content, the antioxidant effect was generally, but not always, high, suggesting that this is determined according to composition of the compound rather than presence of each antioxidant. The results indicate that antimicrobial activity is determined by the existence of each antimicrobial ingredient rather than terpene composition.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.95-106
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of coniferous essential oils (EOs) blended films on insect repellence and crop productivity. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film is widely used, especially in agriculture and for food packaging. Ethylene vinyl acetate was blended with LDPE to reduce volatilization of EOs. An EO from Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) was incorporated into the blend film to conduct field research on antimicrobial and insect repellent properties. Among the various concentrations of EO, the highest concentration (2.5%) showed the highest efficiency in terms of pesticidal activity. The ability to inhibit microbial growth can be explained by the lipophilic properties of the EO component, and many studies have already demonstrated this. Agricultural films containing all types of EO have been tested on various crops such as chili, cucumber, Korean melon and have been able to verify their effectiveness in avoiding pests and increasing yields. From these results, it was found that it is reasonable to use a modified film such as a composite film containing an EO for agriculture. Thus, the modified film containing EO has undoubtedly shown impressive potential for reducing the use of pesticides in a variety of ways, not only for agricultural mulching film but also for food and agricultural product packaging. This product is an environmentally friendly chemical and is safe for agricultural and industrial and food packaging applications, among others. In particular, the use of agricultural films significantly reduces the use of pesticides, suggesting that farmers can increase their incomes by reducing working hours and costs, and increasing production.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.19-29
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• 2010

Phytoncide, essential oil of trees, has microbicidal, insecticidal, acaricidal, and deodorizing effect. The present study was performed to examine the effect of phytoncide on Candida albicans, which is a commensal colonizer of the mucous membranes but has become an opportunistic pathogen. C. albicans was incubated with or without phytoncide extracted from Hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa Sieb. et Zucc.; Japanese cypress) and then changes were observed in its optical density, cell viability and morphology. As concentrations of phytoncide added to the culture medium increased, optical density and cell viability of C. albicans decreased. Minimum inhibitory concentration of phytoncide for C. albicans was observed to be 0.25%, and minimum fungicidal concentration was 0.5%. Numbers of morphologically atypical cells with electron-dense cytoplasm and granules and increased with increasing concentration of the phytoncide. At higher concentrations of phytoncide, compartments and organelles in the cytoplasm became indistinguishable. The overall results indicate that the phytoncide used for this study has a strong antimicrobial activity against C. albicans. Therefore, the phytoncide may be used as a candidate for prevention and therapeutic agent against oral candidiasis.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.96-105
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• 2016

VOCs emissions from industries cause the air pollution and odor. In the industrial facilities, the existing odor treatment techniques have limits and problems. In this study, the optimum essential oil and metal oxide selected by screening test. lavender oil, cypress oil and TiO₂ were determined by deodorant materials and those were blended by 5%, 45%, 10%, respectively. In addition, the result of batch type experiments depending on the dilution rate, injection, rate, temperature showed that the optimum condition of deodorant is 6 mL of injection rate, and 200 times of dilution rate and the removal efficiency increased in proportion with temperature. In addition, the activation energy was calculated from the rate equation, which appeared in the 3-4 times lower than conventional deodorants.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.402-408
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• 2010

In the twenty first century, people experience a lot of stresses by psychological, social and environmental impetus. If the stress is excessive, it can become a problem and finally lead to diseases. Foot bath makes the body warm starting with the feet, controls the blood circulations and autonomic nervous systems. This study aims at examining the effects of stress and fatigue of senior students preparing for college entrance examination by foot bath with the aroma essential oil and the fermentation extracts. The experimental period was from March 30 to April 18, 2009. The study objects were 21 senior students of C Girls' High School in Cheonan. They were divided into 3 groups and treated 20 times. The first group was a foot bath group with Artemisia Herbal fermentation extracts. The second group was a foot bath group with the blending aroma essential oil of grapefruit, cypress and cedarwood. The third group was not treated. In the case of difference of physical and psychological stress, there was a reduction of 18.43 and 16.71 for the fermented extract group and 10.71 and 9.43 for the aroma group, while a reduction of 0.43 and 0.29 for the control group, respectively. This shows that foot baths using fermented extracts and aroma had lower physical stress compared to the control group (p<.01). For the difference of fatigue, there was a reduction of 19.14 for the fermented extract group, 11.57 for the aroma group and 0.07 for the control group, showing that foot baths accompanied by fermented extracts and aroma used in this study having lower fatigue compared to the control group (p<.01). The fermented extract group (M=55.71) had the highest level of satisfaction after foot baths, followed by the aroma group (M=49.14) and the control group (M=33.29). Duncan's post hoc test showed that there was a statistically considerable difference between the tests groups and control groups (p<.01). Through the results of this study, it was found that foot baths using bathing supplements were very effective for reducing stress and fatigue.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.137-150
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• 2007

Trees emit phytoncide into atmosphere to protect them from predation. Phytoncide from different trees has its own unique fragrance that is referred to as forest bath. Phytoncide, which is essential oil of trees, has microbicidal, insecticidal, acaricidal, and deodorizing effect. The present study was performed to examine the effect of phytoncide on Porphyromonas gingivalis, which is one of the most important causative agents of periodontitis and halitosis. P. gingivalis 2561 was incubated with or without phytoncide extracted from Hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa Sieb. et Zucc.; Japanese cypress) and then changes were observed in its cell viability, antibiotic sensitivity, morphology, and biochemical/molecular biological pattern. The results were as follows: 1. The phytoncide appeared to have a strong antibacterial effect on P. gingivalis. MIC of phytoncide for the bacterium was determined to be 0.008%. The antibacterial effect was attributed to bactericidal activity against P. gingivalis. It almost completely suppressed the bacterial cell viability (>99.9%) at the concentration of 0.01%, which is the MBC for the bacterium. 2. The phytoncide failed to enhance the bacterial susceptibility to ampicillin, cefotaxime, penicillin, and tetracycline but did increase the susceptibility to amoxicillin. 3. Numbers of electron dense granules, ghost cell, and vesicles increased with increasing concentration of the phytoncide, 4. RT-PCR analysis revealed that expression of superoxide dismutase was increased in the bacterium incubated with the phytoncide. 5. No distinct difference in protein profile between the bacterium incubated with or without the phytoncide was observed as determined by SDS-PAGE and immunoblot. Overall results suggest that the phytoncide is a strong antibacterial agent that has a bactericidal action against P. gingivalis. The phytoncide does not seem to affect much the profile of the major outer membrane proteins but interferes with antioxidant activity of the bacterium. Along with this, yet unknown mechanism may cause changes in cell morphology and eventually cell death.