• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 2008

Ginsenosides have been regarded as the principal components, responsible for the pharmacological and biological activities of ginseng. Absorption of major ginsenosides at the gastrointestinal tract was extremely low, when ginseng taken orally. In order to improve the absorption and bioavailability, transformation of major ginsenosides into more active and valuable minor ginsenoside is much required. In this present study, We isolated a lactic acid bacteria Leuconostoc fallax LH3 from the Korean fermented food Kimchi, which have higher ${\beta}$-glucosidase activity. Using the ethanol precipitated curd enzyme of Leuconostoc fallax LH3, we investigated the biotransformation of ginsenoside Rd at different experimental condition to increase transformation. The maximum convertion was supported at 30 $^{\circ}C$ and decreased when temperatures increased. In order to optimize the effect of pH, the curd enzyme was mixed 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 3.5 to pH 8.0). Ginsenoside Rd was almost hydrolyzed between pH 7.0 and pH 9.0, but not hydrolyzed above pH 10.0. Ginsenoside Rd was hydrolyzed after 24 hrs incubation, but whereas the ginsenoside F2 was appeared from 36 hrs, and all ginsenoside Rd was transformed to F2 after the 60 hrs incubation. Based on this study, the curd enzyme of Leuconostoc fallax LH3 transformed the ginsenoside Rd at the 30$^{\circ}C$ and the pH optimum of 7.0 to 9.0 after the 60 hrs incubation time.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.19 no.6 s.89
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• pp.446-450
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• 2004

We investigated the effective culture conditions of anaerobic bacteria, Enterobacter cloacae YJ-1 on hydrogen production. It was cultured with 60 mL of working volume at $35^{\circ}C$, 120 rpm for 40 h. With culture time, hydrogen production and cell growth increased, but residual glucose and pH decreased. When the $2\%$ of glucose was used as single carbon source, hydrogen production was 975.1 mL/L. To enhance hydrogen productivity, mixed carbon sources of glucose and sucrose were added. The maximum hydrogen production was earned at the mixing ratio of 25:75, and it was 1319.5 mL/L. When we added 50 mM of phosphate to protect the pH drop in culture broth, hydrogen production increased 1.3 times more than that of initial concentration. The organic nitrogen sources were more effective than inorganic nitrogen for hydrogen production. Among organic nitrogen, yeast extract was the most effective and its hydrogen production was 1691.3 mL/L. Among 9 of mineral sources, Ferric citrate and $NaMoO_4$ were especially effective, and their productions were 1782.3 mL/L and 1784.8 mL/L, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.612-617
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• 2009

Fresh vegetable juice is a non-heat treated product and the only step to reduce microbial growth is washing. Therefore, the materials for fresh vegetable juice including Angelica keiskei, Brassica loeracea var. acephala, and Daucus carota L. were treated by ozone after the first washing process and investigated for microbial and chemical changes. The number of the total aerobic bacteria in materials after selection step were $8.2{\times}10^5{\sim}5.0{\times}10^6\;CFU/g$, which was a higher contamination level than the limit of Korea food code ($10^5\;CFU/g$). However, after the 1st washing process and ozone treatment, the total aerobic bacterial number was reduced to $4.7{\times}10^4{\sim}6.7{\times}10^4\;CFU/g$, which showed 2 log microbial reduction. After the 2nd washing step followed by ozone treatment, there was no difference in microbial number. The number of colifroms in the materials of fresh vegetable juice were $8.0{\times}10^3{\sim}3.5{\times}10^3\;CFU/g$ initially but showed $1.5{\times}10^2{\sim}3.0{\times}10^2\;CFU/g$ after the ozone treatment (1 log reduction). On the other hand, there was no changes in the contents of ascorbic acid, flavonoids, polyphenols, minerals (cadmium and lead) during all processes. In addition, no color changes were observed during washing process. Therefore, ozone treatment in the materials of fresh vegetable juice decreased the microbial numbers. Also, chemical characteristics of ozone treated sample were not different when compared with control.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.800-807
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• 2013

This study investigated the quality characteristics and microbial hazards of commercial garlic available in supermarkets, traditional markets, and online shopping malls. Total bacterial counts were 2.55 log CFU/g in whole garlic and 5.20~7.40 log CFU/g in processed garlic, possibly due to contamination during processing. The total bacterial count from garlic purchased in supermarkets was below 5 log CFU/g, while garlic purchased in traditional markets and online shopping malls had counts of 3.87~6.34 and 3.73~6.11 log CFU/g, respectively. Thus garlic purchased at supermarkets appears to be more hygienic than garlic from traditional markets or online shopping malls. Some garlic purchased from supermarkets also had a lower pH (4.96~5.17) compared to fresh chopped garlic (7.4~7.5), likely due to the addition of citric acid and ascorbic acid, to reduce microbes and prevent browning. The moisture content of chopped garlic was 61.92~89.32%, with moisture content in imported garlic from China above 75%. The L, a, and b color values were 52.63~64.47, -3.74~8.75, and 10.67~17.88, respectively. The a and b values of supermarket garlic (-3.74~-3.20 and 10.67~13.90) were lower due to the addition of citric acid.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2006

Neutrophils are short-lived leukocytes that play a vital role in immune responses to bacteria, yeast, and fungi. This study was performed to investigate the effect of 4-O-methyl-ascochlorin (MAC), an anti-tumor, antibiotic, and anti-fungal prenyl-phenol compound on the spontaneous apoptosis of human neutrophils. MAC time- and dose-dependently accelerated the spontaneous apoptosis of human neutrophils. The effect of MAC on neutrophil apoptosis was blocked by pre-treatment of the neutrophils with specific inhibitors of pancaspase (zVAD-fmk), caspase-8 (zIETD-fmk), or caspase-3 (zDEVD-fmk). The cleavage of procaspase-8 and procaspase-3 was increased by MAC. Mitochondrial permeability, which was measured by the retention of $DiOC_6(3)$, was dose-de-pendently increased by MAC but the change of mitochondrial permeability was not blocked by pretreatment of neutrophils with zIETD-fmk. These results suggest that MAC induces neutrophil apoptosis by caspase-8-dependent but mitochondria-independent manner.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.4 s.71
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• pp.647-651
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• 2005

The major causative bacteria of food poisoning were Salmonella spp. $(35.6\%)$, Staphylococcus aureus $(11.3\%)$ and Vibrio parahaemolyticus $(3.2\%)$ in our country. In this study we attempted isolation of S. aureus from stools of patients with diarrhea. Sixty-four strains $(9.1\%)$ were isolated from 704 the stools of patients with diarrhea. The enterotoxin was detected from 29 isolates $(45.3\%)$: 24 isolates $(37.5\%)$, 3 isolates $(4.7\%)$ and 2 isolates $(3.1\%)$ were A, B and C type, respectively. In the antibiotic susceptibility, 63 isolates $(98.4\%)$ were resistant to penicillin, 60 isolates $(93.8\%)$ to ampicillin, 35 isolates $(54.7\%)$ to erythromycin, 32 isolates $(50.0\%)$ to gentamycin, 22 isolates $(34.4\%)$ to tetracycline and 20 isolates $(31.3\%)$ to oxacillin. All of S. aureus isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol and vancomycin, 20 isolates $(31.3\%)$ were methicillin-resistance S. aureus (MRSA). MRSA isolation rate was higher in male $(35.7\%)$ than female $(26.3\%)$. With the exception of two isolates which were resistant only to penicillin, sixty-one isolates were multiple antibiotic resistance.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.827-833
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• 2011

In this study, fecal nonpoint pollutant sources tracking were conducted on Ansan stream. Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Analysis (MARA) method used in this study is based on the premise that fecal bacteria derived from intestine of human or animal has each different resistance for antibiotics. First of all, a database for known sources should be established to use the method and then, an unknown sample was applied on the database to find unknown sources by statistical analysis. The Ansan stream was considered with divided condition into three parts: upper (livestock farming area), mid (old section of the city), and downstream (new section of the city) to search an environmental influence of the stream basin. As results of the statistical analysis, it could be estimated that the upper stream area was influenced by animals due to the nature of influence for the livestock farms located in this area because livestock were classified as percentages of 45.8% in 3-way method divided into livestock, pet and human. In case of midstream and downstream, the human influence was remarkable as percentage of 60% and 80%, respectively. From these results, it could be judged that the MARA method is useful in source tracking the non-point pollutant sources because the MARA results correspond to which predictable non-point pollutant sources by a field study. Also, it is expected that a more effective source tracking will be possible as establishing database of each area.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.584-589
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• 1995

To select new useful plants with antibacterial activity, ninety five sample of eighty different species of wild plants were collected, and extracted with methanol. Antibacterial activity of the methanol extracts was tested against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The methanol extracts from Artemisia capillaris, Hemistepta lyrata, Youngia japonica, Prunella vulgaris, Lamium amplexicaule and Juniperus chinensis was effective against all bacterial strains tested, and eight methanol extracts including Ixeris dentata, Gnaphalium affine, Chelidonium majus and Spiraea prunifolia exhibited the antibacterial activity against at least 3 bacterial strains. Methanol extracts from leaf of Syringa vulgaris, Drava nemorosa and clove of Erythronium japonicum showed a selective antibacterial activity against two gram negative bacteria, V. parahaemolyticus, and B. subtilis, respectively. With investigations on antibacterial activity against a certain bacterial strains tested, metahnol extracts from clove of Erythronium japonicum, Spiraea prunifolia, leaf and twig of Camelia japonica, and Drava nemorosa showed strongest activities against B. subtilis, S. aureus, E. coli, and V. parahaemolyticus, respectively. Nine methanol extracts based on the results were successively fractionated with n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and water portions, which were examined antibacterial activity against B. subtilis and V. parahaemolyticus. Among the all fractions tested, chloroform fractions of Hemistepta lyrata showed strongest antibacterial activity against both B. subtilis (17mm) and V. parahaemolyticus (29 mm). Chloroform fractions of Youngia japonica, n-hexane fractions of Artemisia capillaris, Iexeris dentata and Prunella vulgaris, and ethyl acetate fraction of leaf and twig of Camelia japonica showed relatively a strong antibacterial activity. On the other hand, Juniperus chinensis and Equisetum arvense was distributed to all fractions except for water fraction.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.123-127
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• 2012

In order to develop eco-friendly biopesticide, an entomopathogenic bacterium Photorhabdus temperata M1021 has been lyophilized via freeze-drying along with protective agents such as skim milk, starch, sodium alginate, glucose and sodium glutamate to protect cells from lysis. Freeze-drying powder of P. temperata M1021 containing 7% skim milk (w/v) showed highest survival rate of 63% among all the protective agents used in trials. Furthermore, the freeze-dried microbial powder showed 75% of survival rate after stored at $4^{\circ}C$ for 4 weeks at air contact conditions. Injection toxicity of the freeze-dried sample was tested against larvae of Galleria mellonella. A dose of $2.0{\times}10^1$ cells of P. temperata M1021 killed 100% of the G. mellonella larvae within 4 days after injection. Moreover, $2.0{\times}10^0$ cells caused 50% mortality within the 4 days after injection. Freeze-dried P. temperata M1021 strains exhibited effective insecticidal activity and could be a better candidate for being used as a biopesticide.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2008

Salt accumulation in soils of greenhouse due to the massive application of nitrogen fertilizers causes salt stress on the various crops, a serious problem in domestic agriculture. Since the majority of the salinity is nitrate, the excess nitrate should be removed; therefore, a bacterial strain having high capacity of nitrate uptake and identified as Enterobacter amnigenus GG0461 was isolated from the soils of greenhouse. Optimum conditions for the bacterial growth and nitrate uptake were investigated. GG0461 was able to grow without nitrate; however, nitrate facilitated the growth. The rate of nitrate uptake increased at alkaline pH and both growth and nitrate uptake were maximal at pH 8-9. When the initial pH of culture medium was increased to pH 8 or 9, it was decreased to neutral upon bacterial growth and nitrate uptake. These results imply that the major factor mediating bacterial nitrate uptake is a nitrate/proton antiporter. The fact was supported by the effect of nitrate addition in the absence of nitrate, since the addition of nitrate greatly increased the nitrate uptake and rapidly decreased pH of media.