• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.435-445
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• 1997

The effects of temperature, prechilling, chemicals such as $GA_3$, IAA, kinetin and $KNO_3$ on the germinability of Foeniculum vulgare seed of medicinal plant were examined. In Foeniculum vulgare, the germination rate appeared to be around 50~60% or more in general, showing no differences in germination rate with different temperatures, promoting substances, physical or chemical treatments, and prechilling treatments. The observation of embryo under stereoscopic microscope for Foeniculum vulgare in Umbelliferae showed that seeds with or without embryo was almost the same in number. This result suggests that the lower rate of germination in this species is caused by embryolessness of seeds. The straight-shaped embryos as well as Y-shaped embryos were also observed. Foeniculum vulgare of medicinal plants in Umbelliferae were observed under scanning electron microscope, and did not show any opening problem near micropyle area. Final count should be made on 7th day of germination test.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.182-190
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• 2007

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with a decline in cognitive abilities. Dementia is one of the aged related mental problems and a characteristic symptom of Alzheimer's disease. Nootropic agents like piracetam and cholinesterase inhibitors like $Donepezil^{\circledR}$ are used in situations where there is organic disorder in learning abilities, but the resulting side-effects associated with these agents have limited their utility. Foeniculum (F.) vulgare Linn. is widely used in Indian traditional systems of medicines and also as a house remedy for nervous debility. The present work was undertaken to assess the potential of F. vulgare as a nootropic and anti-cholinesterase agent in mice. Exteroceptive behavioral models such as Elevated plus maze and Passive avoidance paradigm were employed to assess short term and long term memory in mice. To delineate the possible mechanism through which F. vulgare elicits the anti-amnesic effects, its influence on central cholinergic activity was studied by estimating the whole brain acetylcholinesterase activity. Pretreatment of methanolic extract of fruits of F. vulgare Linn. for 8 successive days, ameliorated the amnesic effect of scopolamine (0.4 mg/kg) and aging induced memory deficits in mice. F. vulgare extract significantly decreased transfer latencies of young mice and aged mice, increased step down latency and exhibited significant anti-acetyl cholinesterase effects, when compared to piracetam, scopolamine and control groups of mice. F. vulgare might prove to be a useful memory restorative agent in the treatment of dementia seen in the elderly.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.763-767
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• 2006

The anticoagulant properties of compounds derived from fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Gaertner) fruits were evaluated using a platelet aggregometer and compared with aspirin. The active constituents of fennel fruits were isolated and identified as (+)-fenchone and extragole by various spectral analysis techniques. With regard to the 50% inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$), (+)-fenchone effectively inhibited platelet aggregation induced by treatment with collagen ($IC_{50}$, $3.9\;{\mu}M$) and arachidonic acid (AA) ($IC_{50}$, $27.1\;{\mu}M$), and estragole inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation ($IC_{50}$, $4.7\;{\mu}M$). By way of comparison, (+)-fenchone and estragole proved to be significantly more potent than aspirin at inhibiting platelet aggregation induced by collagen. The inhibitory activity of (+)-fenchone toward platelet aggregation induced by AA was 1.3 times stronger than that of aspirin. These results indicate that (+)- fenchone and estragole may be useful as lead compounds for inhibiting platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid and collagen.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.210-217
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• 1999

To detect the toxic relevant components, asarone, coumarin and thujone, in the 87 medicinal plants used in brewing a Korean traditional folk wine, their 20% ethanol extracts were prepared and purified by a SPE(solid phase extraction) method. The toxic components in the purified extracts were identified by GC-FID and GC/MS analysis. On analyses, asarone was detected in 6 species, Acorus gramineus Solander, Acorus asiaticus Nakai, Angelia gigus Nakai, Santalum album, etc.; coumarin in 22 species, Anethum graveolens, Foeniculum vulgare Gaertner, Lithosperum erythrorhizon Siebold et Zuccarinii, etc.; thujone in 24 species, Achyranthes japonica Nakai, Amomum xanthiodes Wallich, Artemisia asiatia Nakai, seed of Cannabis sativa L., Caragana sinica R., Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat, Codonopsis lanceolata Bentham et flooker, Foeniculum vulgare Gaertner, etc.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.236-244
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• 2024

Background: Fusarium oxysporum (F. oxysporum) is the primary pathogenic fungus that causes Panax notoginseng (P. notoginseng) root rot disease. To control the disease, safe and efficient antifungal pesticides must currently be developed. Methods: In this study, we prepared and characterized a nanoemulsion of Foeniculum vulgare essential oil (Ne-FvEO) using ultrasonic technology and evaluated its stability. Traditional Foeniculum vulgare essential oil (T-FvEO) was prepared simultaneously with 1/1000 Tween-80 and 20/1000 dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The effects and inhibitory mechanism of Ne-FvEO and T-FvEO in F. oxysporum were investigated through combined transcriptome and metabolome analyses. Results: Results showed that the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Ne-FvEO decreased from 3.65 mg/mL to 0.35 mg/mL, and its bioavailability increased by 10-fold. The results of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) showed that T-FvEO did not contain a high content of estragole compared to Foeniculum vulgare essential oil (FvEO) and Ne-FvEO. Combined metabolome and transcriptome analysis showed that both emulsions inhibited the growth and development of F. oxysporum through the synthesis of the cell wall and cell membrane, energy metabolism, and genetic information of F. oxysporum mycelium. Ne-FvEO also inhibited the expression of 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase and isocitrate dehydrogenase and reduced the content of 2-oxoglutarate, which inhibited the germination of spores. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that Ne-FvEO effectively inhibited the growth of F. oxysporum in P. notoginseng in vivo. The findings contribute to our comprehension of the antifungal mechanism of essential oils (EOs) and lay the groundwork for the creation of plant-derived antifungal medicines.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.505-510
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• 2004

이물질 침입에 대한 인식의 결과 NO, PGE$_2$, TNF-, IL-6와 같은 여러 신호전달물질의 분비가 개시되며 이들을 억제하는 물질을 항염증제라고 볼 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 회향(Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) 열매 추출물이 mouse macrophages RAW264.7 세포에서 lipopolysaccharide(LPS)로 유도한 NO(iNOS 산물), PGE$_2$(COX-2 산물) 및 cytokines (TNF-$\alpha$, IL-6) 생성 억제에 미치는 영향을 살펴보았다. 회향 열매의 methanol 추출물 및 분획물(chloroform, butanol, and aqueous fractions)은 4～100$\mu$g/mL 농도에서 LPS가 활성화된 대식 세포에서 NO 생성을 억제하였으며 독성을 나타내지 않았다. LPS가 유도한 PGE$_2$ 생성은 butanol 분획(100 $\mu$g/mL)에 의해서만 유의적으로 감소하였다(P<0.05). 회향 열매 추출물 및 분획물은 TNF-$\alpha$의 생성을 유의적으로 감소시켰으며 IL-6의 생성은 methanol extract(4～100 $\mu$g/mL), chloroform fraction(4 $\mu$g/mL), butanol fraction(4 and 100$\mu$g/mL) 및 aqueous fraction(4～100 $\mu$g/mL)에 의해 감소되었다(P<0.05). 이는 회향 열매 추출물은 염증 상태에서 유용할 것이며 COX-2와 iNOS를 억제하는 butanol 분획은 새로운 항염증제 개발에 사용될 수 있음을 시사하여 주었다.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.274-278
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• 2003

The various plant organs of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) were investigated to identify their volatile components using Dynamic Headspace (purge & trap). They showed slight differences concerning the volatile components both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results revealed that trans-anethole (12.65%) was the major compound in the leaf. The highest compound was ${\alpha}-pinene$ (28.78%), and trans-anethole (7.90%) was highly detected in the stem. The maximum values were 5.64, 4.59, 1.58, 1.51, and 1.04% for ${\alpha}-pinene,\;{\gamma}-terpinene,\;{\beta}-pinene$, 1,8-cineol and fenchone, respectively in the flower. However, very little trans-anethole was detected (0.27%) in the flower. From these results, it was suggested that the major components were different depending on the plant organs. However it was demonstrated that the related plant organs like flower-fruit and leaf-stem contained the similar components.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.981-987
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• 2014

Foeniculum vulgare has long been prescribed in traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammation diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects of the fruits of F. vulgare on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells under non-cytotoxic ($100{\mu}g/ml$) conditions. The 80% methanol extract was subsequently partitioned successively with hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol, and the fractions so obtained were also examined for their anti-inflammatory effects. Among them, the hexane, methylene chloride, and ethyl acetate fractions inhibited nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in LPS stimulated macrophages. The methylene chloride and ethyl acetate fractions also suppressed the productions of interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$ and IL-6 by down-regulating their mRNA levels in LPS stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, the ethyl acetate fraction strongly suppressed tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ at the protein and mRNA levels in LPS stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. These observations suggest that the anti-inflammatory actions of F. vulgare are due to inhibitions of the productions of NO, PGE2, and pro-inflammatory cytokines.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.193-196
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• 1997

Matricaria Chammomillal L., Foemiculum Vulgare mill, and Plantago Psylium L. have been screened for their hepato protective activities against liver damge induced by $CCl_4$ intoxication in mice. Hydroalcoholic extractions (2:8) of herbal drugs were concentrated in vacuo and concentrated crude extracts of Matrica Chammomilla L. and Foeniculum Vulgare mill were orally administered at doses of 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, and 800 mg/kg. Plantago Psyllium was given at doses of 50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg. Liver protective activities of these herbs were determined after administration of $CCl_4$ Liver size, serum enzyme activities, sleeping time, and histopatology of the liver were examined one hour after administration of $CCl_4$. ALT and AST activities, liver weight and sleeping time decreased in groups that received 400 mg/kg of Matricaria Chammomilla L. or Foeniculum Vulgare. Histological investigation showed significant increase in hepatic cell regeneration and reduction in liver injury. The group that received 100 mg/kg Plantago Psylium showed liver protection but protection was not significant in other doses.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.183-189
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• 2015

Foeniculum vulgare Mill. (fennel) is used to flavor food, in cosmetics, as an antioxidant, and to treat microbial, diabetic and common inflammation. No study to date, however, has assessed the anti-inflammatory effects of fennel in experimental models of inflammation. The aims of this study were to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of fennel in model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury. Mice were randomly assigned to seven groups (n=7~10). In five groups, the mice were intraperitoneally injected with 1% Tween 80-saline (vehicle), fennel (125, 250, $500{\mu}l/kg$), or dexamethasone (1 mg/kg), followed 1 h later by intratracheal instillation of LPS (1.5 mg/kg). In two groups, the mice were intraperitoneally injected with vehicle or fennel ($250{\mu}l/kg$), followed 1 h later by intratracheal instillation of sterile saline. Mice were sacrificed 4 h later, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissues were obtained. Fennel significantly and dose-dependently reduced LDH activity and immune cell numbers in LPS treated mice. In addition fennel effectively suppressed the LPS-induced increases in the production of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, with $500{\mu}l/kg$ fennel showing maximal reduction. Fennel also significantly and dose-dependently reduced the activity of the proinflammatory mediator matrix metalloproteinase 9 and the immune modulator nitric oxide (NO). Assessments of the involvement of the MAPK signaling pathway showed that fennel significantly decreased the LPS-induced phosphorylation of ERK. Fennel effectively blocked the inflammatory processes induced by LPS, by regulating pro-inflammatory cytokine production, transcription factors, and NO.