• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.23 no.1 s.72
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• pp.61-70
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• 1995

The genus Armillaria is important because they produce Gastrodia tubers. Seventy two isolates of Armillaria were obtained from fruit bodies grown on decayed wood in Korea. Twenty four isolates from Pinus koraiensis were identified as A. ostoyae. Two isolates from G. elata growing in the field were identified as A. mellea. Seven isolates from Acer ginnala and Quercus spp. were identified as A. tabescens. Thirty nine isolates were identified as A. gallica. Armillaria gallica was isolated from Quercus spp., Ainus japonica, Vitis amurensis and Prunus sargentii. Armillaria spp. isolates were divided into four groups based on the cultural characteristics. Group II (A. gallica KNU-A110) was better than the other groups for mycelial growth and rhizomorph formation. Isolate KNU-A110 proved to be good for production of G. elata tubers. This fungus forms mycelial fan in the plant tissue and rhizomorphs in contact with G. elata tubers. Gastrodia spp. was found in thirteen sites in Kangweon province in Korea. The plants were divided into three different kinds based on stem color. Plants with stems of brownish orange and greyish yellow were identified as G. elata, and those with greyish green colored stems were identified as G. gracilis. Gastrodia was collected mainly from humus soils rich in leaf debris, and slopes facing south from mid-May to mid-July. Once the new tubers are formed from the ancestry tuber, the ancestry tuber begins to decay. The offspring tuber, apparently gaining nutrients through rhizomorphs, begins to grow in length and slowly to enlarge. It takes three years for the offspring tuber to become ancestry tuber.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.122-127
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• 2015

Gastrodia elata Blume is a well-known kind of natural products used as a folk medicine for thousands of years. However, anti-atopic dermatitis-like effects of G. elata Blume had not been evaluated until now. The aim of the present study is to investigate the protective effects of water extract from the roots of G. elata Blume (GE) on 2, 4-dinitrochlorobenzene-induced atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions using balb/c mice. Combination treatment of GE (at a dose of 12.5 mg/kg body weight by administrated per os + 0.5 mg/cm² as ointment to apply on ear and dorsal skin) was significantly inhibited spleen weight, ear thickness, levels of serum immunoglobulin E and number of mast cells, compared with that of 2, 4-dinitrochlorobenzene-included groups without GE. Furthermore, combination application by oral administration plus by ointment of GE significantly inhibited the histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells. These results suggest that combination treatment of oral administration plus ointment form of GE could be helpful as a potentially natural pharmaceutical treatment on atopic-like dermatitis.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.282-288
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• 2013

Gastrodia elata Blume is a achlorophyllous orchid plant that has been used in traditional medicine to treat many human illnesses, such as vertigo, hemiplegia, and epilepsy. It contains three major pharmacological substances; gastrodin, ergothioneine, and vanillyl alcohol. Here we investigated the quantitative changes in those functional components by cultivation conditions and harvest times. The content of ergothioneine was different with cultivation areas, while gastrodin accumulated the higher levels than vanillyl alcohol regardless of cultivation areas. The smaller tubers contained the higher concentrations of gastrodin and the lower concentrations of ergothioneine than did the larger tubers. The cultivation under sun shade screen increased the concentrations of both gastrodin and vanillyl alcohol but decreased the levels of ergothioneine. We also determined the contents of functional substances depending on the harvest times. The concentration of gastrodin was higher in October than in April, while the level of ergothioneine was higher in April than in October. Interestingly, the use of sexually propagated seed tubers produced 1.9 times higher levels of gastrodin compared to vegetatively propagated seed tubers. In this study, we found that three major functional substances in G. elata tubers altered depending on various cultivation practices, which might be important to increase the economic values of G. elata tubers.

• Mycobiology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.79-82
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• 2006

The germination rate and longevity of seeds of Gastrodia elata Blume have been observed for 48 weeks using Mycena osmundicola strain H-21, one of fungi stimulating seed germination. Storage condition of post-harvest seeds was observed in the different temperature ranges of $-30^{\circ}C,\;-5^{\circ}C,\;5^{\circ}C\;and\;30^{\circ}C$ for 48 weeks. After storage period of 48 weeks, the germination rate of G elata was 65.7% at $5^{\circ}C$ and 71.6% at $-5^{\circ}C$, respectively. Although the germination rate of G. elata was 77.3% for 11 weeks at $25^{\circ}C$, the germination rate had been decreased gradually to 49.3% at 13 weeks, 0.3% at 23 weeks and then 0% at 25 weeks. The germination rate was reached to the level of 10% for 2 weeks at $-30^{\circ}C$ and then decreased to 0%.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.837-844
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• 2014

This study was carried out to analyze the differences in p-hydroxylbenzyl alcohol (HBA) content, antitumor and anti-obesity activities and tyrosinase inhibitory activity between non-fermented G. elata (NFGP) and fermented G. elata powder. The HBA content, which is an index-component of G. elata decreased from 1.58 mg/g before fermentation to 1.07, 0.32, and 0.13 mg/g after the $1^{st}$ fermentation ($1^{st}$ FGP), $2^{nd}$ fermentation ($2^{nd}$ FGP) and $3^{rd}$ fermentation ($3^{rd}$ FGP), respectively. The anti-proliferation effects on the cell lines HT29 and AGS were significantly higher for the fermented G. elata than the NFGP. The antitumor activity was also increased in a fermentation number-dependent manner. During adipocyte differentiation, the ethanol extract of the $3^{rd}$ FGP inhibited lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells significantly better than NFGP and the $1^{st}$ FGP, treated at the concentration of $10{\mu}g/mL$. The tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the $2^{nd}$ FGP at $600{\mu}g/mL$ over was higher than that of kojic acid. At the concentration of $1,000{\mu}g/mL$, the tyrosinase inhibitory activity was increased in a fermentation number-dependent manner. From these results, the fermented G. elata, especially the $3^{rd}$ FGP, is expected to be good candidate for the development of functional food and agents with antitumor, anti-obesity, and tyrosinase inhibitory potential.

• Mycobiology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.22-26
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• 2002

This study was carried out to investigate the possibility for seeds germination of Gastrodia elata using symbiotic fungi. Since seeds of G. elata are very small and lack an endosperm and other nutrients, their germination is difficult without requirement for external nutrients. Out of twenty six isolates collected from protocorms of G. elata and roots of native orchids inhabited in wild, two strains(H-2 and H-21) were observed to stimulate the seed germination of G. elata. The seed germination of G. elates was excellent on oak tree leaves medium. The optimal conditions for mycelial growth of symbiotic fungi were $25^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.0, respectively. The mycelial growth of H-2 strain was excellent on YMA medium, while H-21 was poor on PDA medium. In case of carbon sources, the mycelial growth of H-2 and H-21 was good on media supplemented with glucose and dextrin, respectively. Calcium nitrate was good for mycelial growth of H-2 strain as a nitrogen sources, whereas urea was effective to H-21 strain.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.232-236
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• 2017

Gastrodia elata has been widely used as a traditional medicinal herb. However, in Korean Pharmacopeia, neither a marker constituent nor an analytical procedure for G. elata has been established. In this study, we suggest gastrodin and gastrodigenin as marker constituents of G. elata, and propose an analytical procedure for simultaneous quantification of these constituents by high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet spectroscopy (HPLC-UV). The analytical method was validated for its linearity, precision, accuracy, and specificity. Based on the validated method, gastrodin and gastrodigenin in 14 commercial G. elata samples were quantified.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2004

Melanin pigmentation in human skin is a major defense mechanism against ultraviolet light of the sun, but abnormal pigmentation such as freckles, liver spot could be a serious aesthetic problem. Nearly all studies are mainly concentrated on searching for the materials that have inhibitory activities on tyrosinase. In this work, to isolate phenolic compounds from Gastrodia elata, we purified the extract through solvent fractionation, column chromatography, and recrystallization. They were identified as 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol 1, bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)methane 2, gastrodin (4-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranosyloxybenzyl alcohol) 3 on the base of spectroscopic evidences. In order to investigate their depigmentation effect, inhibitory activity against mushroom tyrosinase and inhibitory activity of melanin synthesis in B16 melanoma cells were evaluated in vitro. We have found that 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol 1 and gastrodin (4- ${\beta}$-D-glucopyranosyloxybenzyl alcohol) 3 have no tyrosinase inhibitory activity, but inhibit the melanin synthesis in B16 melanoma cells. Tyrosinase inhibitory activities of bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)methane 2 (IC$\_$50/ = 400 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL) and butanol fraction (IC$\_$50/ = 46 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL) were lower/higher than that of arbutin (IC$\_$50/ = 114 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL), but inhibitory activities of melanin synthesis in B16 melanoma cells were much higher than that of arbutin. Especially, tyrosinase inhibitory activities of isolated phenolic fraction (IC$\_$50/ = 2.37 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL) from butanol fraction was very higher than that of arbutin (IC$\_$50/ = 114 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL). Therefore, these results suggest that isolated phenolic compounds from Gastrodia elata have inhibitory activity against mushroom tyrosinase and inhibitory activity of melanin synthesis in 816 melanoma cells in vitro.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.372-377
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• 2018

This study was investigated the effect of immature rhizome production according to harvest times-based treatment method for seed production of Gastrodia elata. The results revealed that when the tuber weight of G. elata harvested in spring (GEHS) was ${\geq}100g$, the rate of artificial fertilization, protocorm formation, and immature rhizome formation was 90.9%-94.8%, 3.1%-5.4%, and 10.1%-15.3%, respectively. When G. elata harvested in fall (GEHF) was treated at a low temperature for 4 weeks or more, the rate of artificial fertilization, protocorm formation, and immature rhizome formation was 70.4%-87.6%, 2.2%-2.6%, 8.7%-9.5%, respectively. Therefore, to produce seeds and immature rhizomes, GEHS must have tubers of more than 100 g, whereas GEHF requires breaking dormancy by low-temperature treatment for 4 weeks or more. Compared with those of GEHS, the rate of artificial fertilization, protocorm formation, and immature rhizome formation was lower in GEHF; however, it was higher than those in the natural germination state. Thus, it can be expected that G. elata can be produced throughout the year by ensuring that the seeds and immature rhizomes of G. elata are produced using a constant tuber weight and by breaking dormancy with low temperature treatment.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.256-260
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• 2015

This study investigated the optimum pH condition for the efficient extraction of protein from Gastrodia elata Blume. Five extraction pH values (8, 9, 10, 11, and 12) and three precipitation pH values (2, 4, and 6) were used. The protein content, browning degree, and recovery yield of the protein obtained under each pH condition were determined. Most of the G. elata Blume was made up of carbohydrates, and its protein content was also high. The amount of the extracted protein increased according to the increase in the extraction pH, but did not significantly differ between pH 8 and pH 9. The browning degree of the protein significantly increased as the extraction pH increased. The greatest amount of protein was precipitated at pH 4, the recovery yield of which was also the highest. As a result, it was found that the combination of extraction pH 9 and precipitation pH 4, which resulted in a 38.7% recovery yield and a low browning degree, is the optimum condition for the efficient extraction of protein from G. elata Blume.