• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.17-20
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• 2007

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of various composts and NPK fertilization rates on the growth of yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia POEPP). Fertilization of used soil was low. Mean temperature of July was higher than that of normal year, but those of another months were same or the lower. The yield of the no-compost plot was higher by 74% than the no-fertilization plot. Increased NPK fertilization rates of bark compost and organic fertilizer plots increased the growth and yield of yacon. The yield of bark compost 1.5 times plot was highest by 6,905 ㎏/10a. The chemical contents of leaves in the various compost and NPK fertilization rates were not normal tendency, and also that of no-compost plot was not difference to the NPK fertilization rates plot.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.223-227
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• 1998

The objectives of this study were to find the sprouting condition and to establish the optimum production methods of plug seedlings in yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia Poepp. & Endl.). The sprouting ratio was greatest at $30\pm 1^{\circ}C$ at 20 days after planting. Crowns with single buds were more effective than those with two or more buds for sprouting, which might be due to the apical dominance. Planting the shoots separated from crown after sprouting in the single- and double-layer polyethylene-covered greenhouses reduced seedling period with 25% and 50%, respectively. Planting the shoots after sprouting was more effective than planting the crown buds. Double-layer polyethylene-covered green-house was good for plug seedling production than open field or single-layer polyethylene-covered greenhouse. The bed soils composed of clay loam : compost or sand : compost (1:l=v:v) were more effective to produce plug seedlings than only clay loam, sand or compost. Seedlings could be produced at 30 days after planting in our studies.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.240-244
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• 1993

Yacon(Polymina sonchifolia POEPP), an indigenous Andean natural resource food plant, was imported as a new root crop from New Zealand in 1986. However the chemical composition and planting system of it have not been research in Korea. The experimental results for the optimum planting densities and mulching effect are as follows. Height of the main stem of yacon was grown linear from July to October, is showed more fast growth as density increased, and showed highest in 70 ${\times}$ 55cm density. The tiller was bubed 3 month after planting but there was no significant difference among mulching, non-mulching condition and planting density. The fresh weight of root of mulching condition was heavier than that in non-mulching condition and 70 ${\times}$ 40cm mulching condition. In mulching treatment, number of roots in dense planting were more than that in sparse planting. The effect of mulching was not shown significantly in root diameter and root length.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.274-278
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• 1996

This study was conducted to examine the dry matter production and leaf photosynthesis under different fertilizer application in Yacon(Polymnia sonchifolia)plants. Under field conditions, dry matter production of stable mature application plot(S-1) was much larger than non-treated control plot(CTL), but bulb dry weight of 10kg nitrogen application plot per 10a (N-10) was not differentiated from CTL. The maximum photosynthetic rates increased in Yacon plants grown at S-1 while in the rates of CTL reduced under glasshouse in the same treated pot condition. The optimum temperature for the highly photosynthetic rates is about $34{\pm}3^{\circ}C$, and the rates did decrease by stomatal resistance below 28℃. The estimated light saturation point was $1200{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}s^1$. The results of this study indicate that soil conditions were highly related to dry matter production and leaf photosynthesis rate in Yacon plants.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.75-84
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• 2020

We evaluated the effect of anti-obesitic activity of MYE (mulberry leaf + Yacon tuber) extracted from Morus alba as muberry leaf and Smallanthus sonchifolia as yacon. 1%, 3%, or 5% of MYE were treated to Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to a high-fat diet. MYE treated rats were suppressed weight during four weeks, and they lost weight significantly after six weeks. Common blood chemistry panels related to liver function revealed significant improvement in the MYE-treated groups. The expression of leptin as indicators for obesity was decreased in perirenal fat. Such results indicate that MYE could be a promising candidate for the improvement of obesity. In addition, MYE effected on deceased glucose metabolism, reducing the activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) and glucokinase related to glycogen synthesis. The fatty liver was observed in high-fat diet-treated rats, resulting from increased number of adipose cells and Ito cells. However, this pathologic change was significantly improved by administration of MYE. MYE have significant effects on antioxdative function and glycometabolism against high fat diet. Thereby, it seems that MYE prevent fatty liver by high-fat diet. Thus it is suggested that MYE would be worth being developed as an biofunctional food to prevent undesirable effects caused by obesity.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.98-106
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• 2012

This research has been carried out to find out the highest effect on insecticidal, fungicidal and herbicidal activities in leaves, stem and tuber extracts of yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) and extraction methods such as water, boiling water and methanol. Characteristics of potential herbicidal components among extraction methods were investigated by solvent fractions such as hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water. Generally, methanol extract was the best on inhibition of germination rate, plant height, and root length in cucumber and barley. On the other hand, the inhibition effect on growth in cucumber and barley was the best in tuber among plant parts of yacon. Inhibition of germination rate, plant height, and root length in cucumber and barley in solvent fractions was the best in water fraction, but there were no differences in other fractions. Digitaria sanguinalis L. and Solanum nigrum L. by 5 and 10% extractions of yacon tuber were controlled by more than 70~80% and 95~100%, respectively. However, there was no inhibition effect on foliar treatment in cucumber and barley as affected by 5 and 10% extractions of yacon tuber. Mortality of green peach aphid (Myzus persicae Sulzer) was 50% at 3 days after treatment of 5% extracts of yacon leaves. Mortality of brown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stal) was only 24% in 5% extracts of stems and leaves with midrib, but was 57% in 5% extracts of leaves without midrib. There was no fungicidal effect on anthracnose (Colletotrichum truncatum), wilt disease (Fusarium oxysporum), verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae), bacterial blight (Xanthomonus oryzae) in 5% extracts of yacon leaves.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.190-197
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• 2012

This study was performed to evaluate the extraction method (Yacon ethanol extracts; YEE, Yacon pressed extracts; YPE) and various levels (0.05-1.0%) of Yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia) on antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. In linoleic acid emulsion of YPE, there were higher iron chelation activity and antioxidant activity than those of YEE (p<0.05). A 1,1- diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and reducing power of both extracts showed a higher rate at 0.5% level. Ground pork patties, which contain 0.5% YEE and YPE, were manufactured and BHT (0.01%) was used as a reference. Physicochemical properties and microbial counts of ground pork patties, containing a different type of Yacon, were evaluated during the 14 d of storage at $4^{\circ}C$. A pH level, and lightness (Hunter L), as well as the yellowness (Hunter b) values of treatments were not different from those of the control (p>0.05), but increased during storage, at $4^{\circ}C$. Lightness values of ground pork patties, with Yacon extracts, showed the highest. TBARS value of ground pork patties that contains Yacon increased with increased storage at $4^{\circ}C$ (p<0.05), and pork patties with YPE or YEE retarded the lipid oxidation, during refrigerated storage, as compared to that of the CTL. Thus, YPE could be used as a potential possibility to inhibit the lipid oxidation of processed meats, during the refrigerated storage.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.149-155
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• 2020

This study was conducted to investigate the potential prebiotic activity of an extract from yacon tuberous root on the growth of probiotic strains Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. Results showed that the amount of fructooligosaccharides per 100 g fresh root was the highest (7.60 g), followed by sucrose (0.72 g), fructose (0.34 g), and glucose (0.26 g). The in vitro culture test of intestinal beneficial bacteria, including Bifidobacterium longum BORI, B. bifidum BGN4, and B. lactis AD011 showed effective growth on the MRS-Yacon medium containing yacon extract, whereas the growth of Lactobacillus acidophilus AD031, L. plantarum BH02, and L. fermentum BH03 did not differ from that of the control groups. In particular, B. longum BORI showed better growth than the control group after 10 h of incubation. These results indicate that yacon can be a natural prebiotic source of fructooligosaccharides, which can exert a prebiotic effect on intestinal microflora by selectively enriching Bifidobacterium.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.904-911
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• 2012

Yacon has been used in folk medicines as a medicinal tea for hypoglycemia treatment. In a recent study described herein, antioxidative, antibacterial, antifungal activities, and cell-protective functions of yacon leaves have been reported. To evaluate the effects on fibrosis on pancreatitis, the efficacy of 1% of yacon extract (YE) on dibutyltin dichloride (DBTC) (8 mg/kg)-induced pancreatitis in rats was examined. On the 21st day after the DBTC treatment, a large increase in collagen was observed in the pancreas in the DBTC-treatment group (DT). But this was noticeably decreased with YE. In relation to the expression of COX-2, there was no response or a very weak response in the pancreas of the control group (CON). However, in DT, strong expression of COX-2 was observed in the pancreas on the 14th day, and COX-2 was present in inflammatory cells in the pancreas of the DT, especially on the 21st day. The expression was decreased for YE compared with DT. A remarkable increase in TGF-${\beta}1$ expression was observed in inflammatory cells in the pancreas in DT on the 21st day, whereas the expression was not found in YE after 21 days. However, on the 21th day, TGF-${\beta}1$ expression was increased in acinar cells of YE compared with DT. VEGF expression was very similar to the expression of in the pancreas. These results suggest that YE has an inhibitory effect on DBTC-induced pancreatic fibrosis.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.316-319
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• 2010

The gray mold disease occurred on tuberous roots of yacon in storage facilities in Gangneung, Korea, in March 2010. Symptoms typically appeared as in the form of dark brown discoloration on the surface of tuberous roots and water-soaked brown lesions in cross sections of the affected portions. A total of five isolates of Botrytis sp. were obtained from the symptomatic portions. All isolates on potato-dextrose agar (PDA) produced abundant conidia which were pale brown, one-celled, mostly ellipsoid or ovoid in shape and $8.2{\sim}14.8{\times}6.5{\sim}9.9\;{\mu}m$ in size. Large numbers of round to irregular, smooth, black, hard sclerotia were produced on PDA over time. The optimal temperature for mycelial growth and sclerotia formation of the fungal isolates was $20^{\circ}C$. On the basis of morphological and cultural characteristics, all the fungal isolates were identified as Botrytis cinerea. Pathogenicity test on host plants showed that the fungus could infect not only tuberous roots but also leaves and petioles of yacon. This is the first report on gray mold of yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) caused by Botrytis cinerea in Korea.