• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.827-836
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• 2014

There is a rising trend in obesity due to various factors, including changes in eating habits, lack of exercise, and genetic and psychological factors. Citrus peel has been reported to prevent obesity via antioxidative, antihypertensive, and LDL cholesterol-lowering effects. This study investigated the effects of citrus peel extract fermented with or without Aspergillus oryzae in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. The animals were divided into four groups: a high-fat diet group (HFD), a normal fat diet (NFD) group, a citrus peel extract (CP) group, and a citrus peel extract fermented with A. oryzae (CPA) group. The citrus peel extract improved lipid metabolism and weight loss in the high-fat diet-induced obese mouse model. As expected, the body weight was higher in the HFD group compared with the NFD, CP, and CPA groups. However, the concentrations of total cholesterol (TG) and triglyceride (TC) in the serum and liver of the CP and CPA groups were lower than in the HFD group. There were no significant differences in the HDL cholesterol concentration among the groups. Taken together, our results suggest that extract of citrus peel biotransformed with A. oryzae had more antiobesity activity than citrus peel not transformed by A. oryzae through the fermentation of metabolites.

• Mycobiology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.229-237
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• 2010

Members of the genus Aspergillus are the most common fungi and all reproduce asexually by forming long chains of conidiospores (or conidia). The impact of various Aspergillus species on humans ranges from beneficial to harmful. For example, several species including Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger are used in industry for enzyme production and food processing. In contrast, Aspergillus flavus produce the most potent naturally present carcinogen aflatoxins, which contaminate various plant- and animal-based foods. Importantly, the opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus has become the most prevalent airborne fungal pathogen in developed countries, causing invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients with a high mortality rate. A. fumigatus produces a massive number of small hydrophobic conidia as the primarymeans of dispersal, survival, genome-protection, and infecting hosts. Large-scale genome-wide expression studies can now be conducted due to completion of A. fumigatus genome sequencing. However, genomics becomes more powerful and informative when combined with genetics. We have been investigating the mechanisms underlying the regulation of asexual development (conidiation) and gliotoxin biosynthesis in A. fumigatus, primarily focusing on a characterization of key developmental regulators identified in the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans. In this review, I will summarize our current understanding of how conidiation in two aspergilli is regulated.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1842-1848
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• 2015

Cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) has been known to be more bioavailable than cyanidin-3-rutinoside (C3R), the most abundant anthocyanin in black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis). The aim of this study was to enhance the bioavailability of anthocyanins in black raspberry by cleaving ʟ-rhamnose in C3R using crude enzyme extracts (CEEs) from Aspergillus usamii KCTC 6956, A. awamori KCTC 60380, A. niger KCCM 11724, A. oryzae KCCM 12698, and A. kawachii KCCM 32819. The enzyme activities of the CEEs were determined by a spectrophotometric method using ρ-nitrophenyl-rhamnopyranoside and ρ-nitrophenyl-glucopyranoside. The CEE from A. usamii had the highest α-ʟ-rhamnosidase activity with 2.73 U/ml at 60℃, followed by those from A. awamori and A. niger. When bioconversion of C3R to C3G in black raspberry was analyzed by HPLC-DAD, the CEEs from A. usamii and A. awamori hydrolyzed 95.7% and 95.6% of C3R to C3G, respectively, after 2 h incubation. The CEEs from A. kawachii and A. oryzae did not convert C3R to C3G in black raspberry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.149-153
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.64.1-64
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• 2000

No Abstract, See Full Text

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.563-570
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• 1997

Volatile flavor components in the mash of takjus prepared by using different nuruks such as Mucor racemosus nuruk, Rhizopus japonicus nuruk, Aspergillus oryzae nuruk, Aspergillus kawachii nuruk and nuruk (Korean-style bran koji), were identified by using GC and GC-MS. Twenty alcohols, 26 esters, 10 acids, 10 aldehydes and 6 others were found in the mash of takju after 16 days of fermentation. Takju by Aspergillus oryzae nuruk had the most various components of volatile flavor. Fifty-four flavor components including ethanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 1-hexanol, 2,3-butadienol (D,L), benzeneethanol, acetic acid ethyl ester, succinic acid diethyl ester, butanoic acid monoethyl ester, acetic acid and benzene acetic acid 4-acetyloxy-3-methyl ethyl ester were usually detected in all the treatments. The relative peak area of volatile components was as follows: alcohol $(71.28{\sim}90.23%)$, ester $(0.66{\sim}9.05%)$, acid $(0.2{\sim}0.6%)$ and aldehyde $(0.02{\sim}0.09%)$. Specially, 1-pentanol and hexanoic acid ethyl ester were high in takju made of nuruk (Korean-style bran koji). 1-Hexanol, 1-dodecanol, acetic acid and 1,2-benzene-dicarboxylic acid diprophenyl ester were high in takju made of Mucor racemosus nuruk. 4-Acetyloxy, 3-methyl benzeneacetic acid phenyl ester, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, succinic acid diethylester, butanoic acid monoethyl ester and butanoic acid were higher content in takju by Rhizopus japonicus nuruk. Acetic acid ethyl ester, pentanoic acid and 3-methyl butanoic acid were high in takju that was made of Aspergillus oryzae nuruk. 1-Butanol was high in takju by Aspergillus kawachii nuruk.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.555-562
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• 1997

The characteristics of mash qualities of takju prepared by using different nuruk (Korean-style bran koji) such as Mucor racemosus nuruk, Rhizopus japonicus nuruk, Aspergillus oryzae nuruk, Aspergillus kawachii nuruk and traditional nuruk were investigated during fermentation. At the begining of fermentation, ethanol content was in the range of $2.0{\sim}3.0%$. However, it increased to $8.2{\sim}12.6%$ after 16 days of fermentation. Takju made from Rhizopus japonicus nuruk showed higher ethanol content than treated otherwise. pH of takju made from Rhizopus japonicus nuruk showed higher value the others. Total acids were $0.15{\sim}0.20%$ at the begining of fermentation, and it increased to $0.086{\sim}1.57%$ after 16 days of fermentation. Total sugar were $16.64{\sim}17.62%$ at the begining of fermentation, but decreased to below 7.00% after 16 days of fermentation. Rhizopus japonicus nuruk showed the lowest level of total sugar content. Except ethanol, iso-amyl alcohol and iso-butyl alcohol were major part of minor alcohol in the mash of takju. Higher concentration of iso-amyl alcohol, iso-butyl alcohol and n-propyl alcohol were found in the mash of Rhizopus japonicus nuruk whereas the level of phenylethyl alcohol was high in the mash of traditional nuruk. Fusel oil was $0.002{\sim}0.411\;mg/mL$ during fermentation.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.326-332
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• 1983

Acorn wine was manufactured experimentally with koji inoculated the strain producing acorn tannin hydrolyzing enzyme in order to apply fungal tannase to food processing. Starch value of several Korean acorns was found to be 72.84 and the acorns were worthy of use as a carbohydrate food. Mixed koji was prepared by combination of rice and acorn powder at a ratio of 50to 50 and inoculation of Aspergillus oryzae producing amylase and Aspergillus sp. AN-11 producing tannase into the mixture in order to hydrolyze efficiently acorn tannin inhibiting alcohol fermentation in the medium, and then the mixed koji was used as a suitable koji to manufacture acorn wine. Acorn wine brewed with medium of the acorn powder treated with water and cooked and the mixed koji prepared was superior about two times to that brewed with medium of untreated acorn powder and general koji with respect to the rate of alcohol production and sugar fermentation during the 1st and 2nd brewing.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.888-891
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• 2008

Twenty-three fungal strains were isolated from meju that had originated from the Sunchang province, the famous location for making fermented soybean foods in Korea. The restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA (ITS-RFLP) was applied to differentiate the isolated fungal strains. First, the ITS region by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers was amplified and then cleaved the products with different restriction enzymes. Cleavage of the amplified fragments with the restriction enzymes AluI, HaeIII, HhaI, and TaqI revealed extensive polymorphisms. The ITS-RFLP results highly correlated with ITS sequence analysis. All of the 23 fungal strains were classified into 5 groups by ITS-RFLP analysis. Aspergillus oryzae was the major fungal strain isolated from Sunchang meju (12 out of 23), while Aspergillus fumigatus was the next most frequently isolated strain (7 out of 23). In contrast, it was found that Fusarium asiaticum, Aspergillus sydowii, and Arthrinium sp. were the minor fungal strains in meju.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.28-41
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• 2023

Non-aflatoxigenic Aspergillus oryzae and aflatoxigenic A. flavus cannot be clearly identified by partial sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 18S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (18S rRNA) regions. This study aimed to compare the accuracy among three aflatoxin detection methods using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit and to select the non-aflatoxigenic Aspergillus sp. isolated from soybean paste. All analytical methods were suitable according to the international standards of Codex Alimentarius FAO-WHO (CODEX) or the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). UPLC exhibited the best of limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ). Based on UPLC, HPLC, and the ELISA kit assay, the P5 and P7 strains isolated from soybean paste had 1,663.49, 1,468.12, and >20 ㎍/kg and 1,470.08, 1,056.73, and >20 ㎍/kg, respectively, detected and re-identified as A. flavus. In contrast, the P3 and P4 strains (A. oryzae), which were detected below the MFDS standards in all assays, were confirmed as non-aflatoxigenic fungi. Among the methods evaluated for quantitative analysis of aflatoxin, UPLC and HPLC are superior in terms of accuracy, and the ELISA kit rapidly detects low concentrations of aflatoxin. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that any Aspergillus sp. isolated for use as a fermentation starter should be analyzed for potential aflatoxin production using UPLC and HPLC for accurate quantitative analysis or ELISA for the rapid detection of low-level concentrations of aflatoxin.