• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.233-244
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• 2010

This experiment was conducted to evaluate two different types of feed additive as an alternative for antibiotics on growth performance and feed cost in growing and finishing pigs. One additive is an herb extract, with Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum) as the main component, while the other feed additive contains aminolevulinic acid (ALA). In the first experiment, 128 grower pigs were allotted to 4 different treatment groups and replicated 4 times with 8 pigs per replicate; the trial lasted for 28 days. The positive control group (PC) which is the control group supplemented with antibiotics was significantly higher (p<0.05) in growth rate (580.6 g/d) followed by the ALA group (532.0 g/d), there was no significant differences in terms of feed intake and feed efficiency. There were marginal reductions in feed costs measured as feed cost per head in ALA and HE added diet. However, the feed cost per weight gain of ALA treatment was higher than the control group (PC) supplemented with antibiotics. In the second experiment, 80 finisher pigs were allotted to 4 treatment groups and replicated 4 times with 5 pigs per replicate; the trial lasted for 70 days. The treatment group supplemented with an herb extract (HE) had a significantly higher (p<0.05) feed intake (2,415.8 g/d) compared to the other treatment groups, but there was no significant differences in terms of growth rate and feed efficiency. Feed cost per head in HE and ALA treatments were higher than PC treatment, and feed cost per weight gain of HE was higher than PC treat (p<0.05). The results from these experiments suggests that these two types of feed additives can both be used as an alternative for antibiotics without having a negative effect on the performance of the animals. And aminolevulinic acid was good in performance and production cost of grower and finisher pigs.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.550-554
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to screen the testosterone-like activities of eight oriental medicines with an in vitro testosterone compound detection (TCD) system. Distilled water and 80% ethanol, both at 80℃, were used to obtain extracts from Cervus nippon temminck (Nokgaksang), Cynanchum wilfordii (Baeksuo), Lespedeza cuneata (Yagwanmun), Panax ginseng (Hongsam), Smilax china (Toryeong), Taraxacum platycarpum (Mindlre), Tribulus terresteis (Namgase), and Trigonella foenum-graecum (Horopa), and extracts at concentrations of 5, 50, and 500 ㎍/ml were assessed using the TCD system. The testosterone-like activities of the 80% ethanol extracts were seen to increase with concentration and ranged from 0.9 to 5.0 times higher than those of the negative control; Horopa and Yagwanmun exhibited superior testosterone-like activities, followed by Mindlre and Hongsam at the same concentration. Toryeong and Namgase, on the other hand, showed low activity with Nokgaksang and Baeksuo exhibiting very low levels. Compared with the activities of the positive control (5α-DHT), the 80% ethanol extracts of Horopa and Yagwanmun at a concentration of 500 ㎍/ml showed higher testosterone-like activities than 10^-8 M 5α-DHT. The water extracts showed lower activity levels than the ethanol samples, and the change of activity with concentration was also lower. It was confirmed that the 80% ethanol extracts of Horopa, Yagwanmun, and Mindlre etc. enhance the transcription efficiency of testosterone-related genes and may therefore be useful in developing health food or medicinal treatments for the improvement of male menopausal symptoms.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1023-1026
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the estrogen-like activities of eight oriental medicines, including red ginseng, fenugreek, and dandelion. Hot water and ethanol extracts were prepared from Cervus nippon temminck (Nokgaksang), Cynanchum wilfordii (Baeksuo), Lespedeza cuneata (Yagwanmun), Panax ginseng (red ginseng), Smilax china (Toryeong), Taraxacum platycarpum (Mindeulre, dandelion), Tribulus terresteis (Namgase), and Trigonella foenum-graecum (Horopa, fenugreek). Then, estrogen-like activities were verified by the in vitro transcriptional activity assay. The extracts showing estrogen-like activities were red ginseng, Baeksuo, fenugreek, Yagwanmun, and dandelion in the ethanol extracts, and red ginseng, fenugreek, and Baeksuo in the hydrothermal extracts. Red ginseng extract showed a higher activity than the standard $10^{-8}M$ $17{\beta}$-estradiol in both the hydrothermal and ethanol extract at $500{\mu}g/ml$, while the $50{\mu}g/ml$ of the red ginseng ethanol extract and the $500{\mu}g/ml$ of the Baeksuo hydrothermal extract showed estradiol activities between $10^{-9}$ and $10^{-8}M$ $17{\beta}$-estradiol. This shows that it would be possible to contribute to the development of functional materials using red ginseng, Baeksuo, fenugreek, and dandelion.