• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.151-153
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• 1999

Gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon) pigment solution and Jindo Hongju prepared in the laboratory showed characteristic pH-dependent color changes and a shift in absorption maxima. This phenomenon was not observed in the solution of the artificial food colorant Red No. 2 which was suspected to be used in the manufacture of fake Jindo Hongju. A few fake products could be detected by using the pH-dependent shift in absorption maxima among the Jindo Hongju on market.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.21 no.6 s.90
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• pp.908-918
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• 2005

The effects of adding Lithospermum erythrorhizon(gromwell) extract on the quality characteristics of Kangjung were examined to improve tunctionality of Kangjung and usage of gromwell extract. There was no significant difference of moisture quantity in the quality of Kangjung at 0, 0.25, $0.5\%$ level of added wild and cultivated gromwell extract, whereas there was a significant difference at $0.5\%$ addition level. Expansion rates of Kangjung were $25\%$ for control, $23\%$, and $19\%$ for $0.25\%$, and $0.5\%$ cultivated gromwell extract added groups, respectively, and $24\%$, and $24\%$ and for $0.25\%$and $0.5\%$ wild groinwell extract added groups, respectively. The rates were slightly decreased with increasing addition level. The hardness and crispness as determined by texture analyser were lower in Kangjung with added $0.5\%$ wild and cultivated gromwell extracts than in the others. The sensory characteristics such as appearance, tenderness, taste and overall acceptability of Kangjung prepared with $0.25\%$ gromwell extract showed no significant difference compared to the controlled group. However, there was significant difference in Kangjung with $0.5\%$ gromwell extract added(p<0.05).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.495-505
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• 2024

Gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon, LE) can mitigate obesity-induced skeletal muscle atrophy in C2C12 myotubes and high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-skeletal muscle atrophy effects of LE and the underlying molecular mechanism. C2C12 myotubes were pretreated with LE or shikonin, and active component of LE, for 24 h and then treated with 500 μM palmitic acid (PA) for an additional 24 h. Additionally, mice were fed a HFD for 8 weeks to induced obesity, and then fed either the same diet or a version containing 0.25% LE for 10 weeks. LE attenuated PA-induced myotubes atrophy in differentiated C2C12 myotubes. The supplementation of LE to obese mice significantly increased skeletal muscle weight, lean body mass, muscle strength, and exercise performance compared with those in the HFD group. LE supplementation not only suppressed obesity-induced skeletal muscle lipid accumulation, but also downregulated TNF-α and atrophic genes. LE increased protein synthesis in the skeletal muscle via the mTOR pathway. We observed LE induced increase of mitochondrial biogenesis and upregulation of oxidative phosphorylation related genes in the skeletal muscles. Furthermore, LE increased the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1 alpha and the phosphorylation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase. Collectively, LE may be useful in ameliorating the detrimental effects of obesity-induced skeletal muscle atrophy through the increase of protein synthesis and mitochondrial biogenesis of skeletal muscle.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Dyers and Finishers Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.125-126
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• 2010

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.177-181
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• 2006

In this study, phytochemicals from the wold and cultivated Lithospermum erythrorhizon (gromwell), which has been used for medicinal purpose or natural coloring material from the old days, were extracted by methanol and fractionated with hexane. The shikonin compounds in the fraction was isolated and their chemical structures were identified by $^1H$ and $^{13}C-NMR$. It was found that compound I was the shikonin substance with molecular weight of 288.3 and chemical formula of $C_{16}H_{16}O_5$, and compound II being deoxyshikonin substance with molecular weight of 272.3 and chemical formula of $C_{16}H_{16}O_4$. The Quantities of these compounds in the wild and cultivated gromwells was determined.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.791-800
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• 2006

This study examined the effects of gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon) extracts on the storage characteristics of Kangjung. At an increase of $0{\sim}0.25%$, there was no significant difference in the moisture content of wild and cultivated gromwell extract added to Kangjung, whereas there was a significant difference when increased to 0.5%. When compared, the occurrence of lipid oxidation among the controlled gromwell extract group stored at $60^{\circ}C$, resulted in peroxide values exceeding 40 meq/kg which is a maximum value for Hankwa within 12 hours of storage. However, at an increase of 0.25%, the cultivated gromwell extract added group reached limits within 16 hours. Furthermore, at a 0.5% increase in cultivated gromwell and 0.25% in wild gromwell, extract added groups exceeded this limit within 20 hours of storage. Gromwell added Kangjung, a fried food, showed efficiency in suppressing oxidation of fat, more so in the wild gromwell than the cultivated gromwell. In addition, efficiency in suppressing oxidation of fat increased at the 0.5% level than the 0.25% level. In conclusion, it is believed that an unused pigment resource called Lithospermum erythrorhizon, normally reserved for medicinal use, can be distributed as a safe food additive. In addition, as Lithospermum erythrorhizon is a natural antioxidant in fried foods, we believe this satisfies the demand for natural food.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.19-23
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• 1992

Jindo Hongju is a traditional liquor in Jindo island of Korea. The characteristics of Hongju are its unique flavour by fermetation and red color of gromwell(Lithospermum erythrorhizon) root. However, the evaluation of red pigment is different from one manufactures to other manufactures and from place to place, also the standard method is not established. An attempt has made to compare the quality of gromwell root from different places and to standardize the extracting method. The results obtained from this study are summerized as follow, The chemical properties and composition of gromwell root from Jindo and other areas were compared. There were no difference among the samples in moisture content, content of naphtoquinone derivatives and absoption spectra. These results indicate that the pigments from Jindo and other region products seems to be the same quality. For efficient extraction of gromwell pigment, more than 40% ethanol as solvent and at least 10 hours extraction time was required. According to the visual test for Hongju pigment, the most preferable color was that it shows absorbance of 1.0 (contents of shikonin was 3.90 mg/45% EtOH 20 ml). From this visual test it can be proposed that the may be applied absorbance at 1.0 for the quality control of pigment.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.183-186
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• 1992

Jindo Hongju is a traditional liquor in Korea. The characteristic of Hongju are its unique flavour and red color which is extracted from the root of gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon). It is due to these color and flavour that Hongju attracts visual charm. However, the commercial value of Hongju is reduced because of the discoloration of red pigment during storage. Therefore, factors which cause the discoloration of red pigment and methods to prevent discoloration were investigated. The results obtained from this study are summarized as follows. The factors that cause the discoloration were visible light, temperature (beyond $40^{\circ}C$), pH (above 10) and inorganic ion ($Cu^{2-}$). Among all the additives added, Cystein (100 ppm) was the most effective inhibitor of pigment discoloration.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Postharvest Science and Technology of Agricultural Products Conference
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.25-25
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• 1996

;Jindo Hongju is an unique red-colored traditional distilled wine of Korea. The unique attractive color of Jindo Hongju is due to the pigments of gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon) root, derivatives of naphtoquinone such as shikonin and acetylshikonin. Which are extracted during the distillation process. The attractive color of the gromwell pigments is easily changed to dark red or to brown causing deterioration of the Quality of Jindo Hongju. Due to the discoloration of the pigments and to the limited supply of gromwell roots, some brewers manufacture spurious Jindo Hongju using artificial colorants. This study was performed to devise a simple method of detecting spurious Jindo Hongju products. The color of the gromwell pigments was greatly affected by pH change and the change could be demonstrated by the change of the absorption spectrum. At pH 4.0 the normal pH of Jindo Hongju, the absorption spectra of gromwell pigments and genuine Hongju products showed an absorption maximum of 520 nm. The absorption maximum was shifted to 570 nm and to 616 nm as the pH was raised to 7.0 and 11.0 respectively. This transition due to the pH change was also demonstrated on em chromaticity diagram. The characteristic transition due to pH change of gromwell pigment solution was not observed with an artificial colorant (red No.2) which was suspected to be used in the manufacture of imitation products. The absorption spectra of most of the Jindo Hongju collected from the market were similar to that of the gromwell pigments and showed the characteristic transition due to pH change with the addition of NaOH. However, with a few of the products, the absorption spectra was similar to that of the artificial colorant and the characteristic transition due to pH change was not observed, indicating these products might have been forged. The result of study suggests that the transition of the absorption spectrum and the change of the color due to pH change be used for the detection of imitation products. Farther more, since, at pH above 9.0, the color of the gromwell pigments and genuine Jindo Hongju could be visually differentiated from that of the artificial colorant and forged products, it might be possible that the forged products be easily detected by raising the pH to above 9.0 and visually comparing the color with that of the gromwell pigment at the same pH.me pH.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.547-551
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• 2009

Gromwell (LE, Lithospermum erythrorhizon), a perennial herbal plant, has been used for the treatment of various problems associated with atopic dermatitis of the skin, such as water loss, epidermal hyperproliferation, and severe inflammation. Previously, it was shown that oral supplementation with a 70% ethanol extract of gromwell prevented the development of atopic dermatitis in NC/Nga mice. In this study, in order to identify the fraction that mediates gromwell's efficacy, the dietary effects of water and ethyl acetate fractions from the ethanol extract of gromwell were assessed in the development of dermatitis using NC/Nga mice. Dietary supplementation of the hot water fraction significantly reduced scores for epidermal hyperproliferation in parallel with a marked increase of ceramides. Supplementation of the gromwell hot water fraction also decreased scratching behavior, which was accompanied by a decrease in plasma levels of IgE. These results showed that the hot water fraction of the gromwell ethanolic extract prevented the development of atopic dermatitis by increasing ceramides in NC/Nga mice.