• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.10-14
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• 2001

The volatile components of umbelliferous herbs having a characteristic spicy aroma were investigated. The essential oils of herbs were isolated by simultaneous steam distillation and extraction and the volatile components were identified by capillary GC and GC/MS. Forty-nine volatile compounds were identified from the herbs. The major compounds of chervil (Anthricus cerefolium) leaf oil were methyl chavicol, 1-allyl-2,4-dimethoxy benzene, and of coriander (Coriandrum sativum) leaf oil were ${\beta}$-sesquiphellan drene, germacrene B, nerolidol, selinene-4-ol, and of coriander seed oil were linalool, decanal, ${\gamma}$-terpinene, $\rho$-cymene.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 2021

Perilla frutescens var. crispa (Pfc), a herb belonging to the mint family (Lamiaceae), has been used for medicinal and aromatic purposes. In the present study, we analyzed the variation in the chemical composition of essential oils (EOs) obtained from five different genotypes of Pfc collected from different regions. Based on principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), we identified three groups: PA type containing perillaldehyde, PP type containing dillapiole, and 2-acetylfuran type. To assess the correlation between EO components and antimicrobial activities, we compared classification results generated by PCA and HCA based on antimicrobial activity values. The findings suggested that the major compounds obtained from EOs of Pfc are responsible for their antimicrobial activities. Chemotypes of Pfc plants are essentially qualitative traits that are important for breeders. The present findings provide potential information for breeding Pfc as an antimicrobial agent.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2009

Medicinal herbs are significant source of synthetic and herbal drugs. In the commercial market, medicinal herbs are used as raw drugs, extracts or tinctures. Isolated active constituents are used for applied research. For the last few decades, phytochemistry (study of plants) has been making rapid progress and herbal products are becoming popular. According to Ayurveda, the ancient healing system of India, the classical texts of Ayurveda, Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita were written around 1000 B.C. The Ayurvedic Materia Medica includes 600 medicinal plants along with therapeutics. Herbs like turmeric, fenugreek, ginger, garlic and holy basil are integral part of Ayurvedic formulations. The formulations incorporate single herb or more than two herbs (poly-herbal formulations). Medicinal herb contains multitude of chemical compounds like alkaloids, glycosides, saponins, resins, oleoresins, sesquiterpene, lactones and oils (essential and fixed). Today there is growing interest in chemical composition of plant based medicines. Several bioactive constituents have been isolated and studied for pharmacological activity. R. cordifolia is an important medicinal plant commonly used in the traditional and Ayurvedic system of medicine for treatment of different ailments. This review illustrates its major constituents, pharmacological actions substantiating the claims made about this plant in the traditional system of medicine and its clinical applications.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.175-181
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• 2015

Compositions of essential oils extracted from mint herb such as Mentha piperita, Mentha spicata, and Mentha ${\times}$ piperita var. citrate produced in Jeju were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and headspace-GC-MS (HS-GC-MS). By the GC-MS analysis, 13 compounds were tentatively identified in Mentha piperita, Mentha spicata, and Mentha ${\times}$ piperita var. citrate, respectively. Peperitenone oxide, carvone, and linalool were detected as major compounds in Mentha piperita, in Mentha spicata, in Mentha ${\times}$ piperita var. citrate, respectively, based on the ratio of peak intensity in the total ion chromatogram. The greater number of compounds, including volatile alcohols and acetates were identified by HS-GC-MsS than by GC-MS in these all three essential oils. Similar patterns of composition were detected in both Mentha spicata and Mentha ${\times}$ piperita var. citrate by either one of GC-MS methods. However, in case of Mentha piperita, $\small{L}$-(-)-menthol, which was identified as the major compound by HS-GC-MS was detected in dramatically reduced quantity by GC-MS. Interestingly, we found that both linalyl acetate and linalool were identified as the dominant compounds in the essential oil of Mentha ${\times}$ piperita var. citrate.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.329-338
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• 2006

The study of health promoting and disease preventing compounds in food or by themselves, so called nutraceuticals or functional foods, has become a major field of research in food science. Natural flavor compounds are usually present in food, essential oils, spices, and herbs. These compounds can produce aroma, not only by themselves, but also in combination with other compounds. Today, however, greater interest is being paid to the health promoting properties of natural flavor substances rather than their flavoring properties. In fact, a number of naturally occurring flavor compounds that possess health promoting and disease preventing properties have been extensively studied and identified. The beneficial properties of natural volatile flavor compounds as well as non-volatile substances in spices and herbs discussed in this review include antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and immune enhancing activities.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.243-252
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• 2014

Forest tree species usually takes for long periods to be harvested and cultivated but spearmints are a good model system for woody plant because of reducing and shortening cultivation time. Spearmints are good model plants (Mentha species) for research about terpenoids production and industrial essential oil manufacture. Isopentenyl pyrophosphate isomerase (Iso) and limonene synthase (Limo) are the key enzymes of terpenoid biosynthesis pathway. Transgenic and wild spearmints (Mentha spicata, MS) were cultured in vitro and assessed for the essential oil contents. The content of essential oil of transgenic spearmint also was enhanced slightly depending on the target terpenoid genes. In an attempt to increase productivity of terpenoids further, salt and fungal elicitation strategy was adopted on transgenic Mentha spicata. The salt (800 mM NaCl) as abiotic and two fungi (Botrytis cinerea and Glomerella cingulata) as biotic were used for elicitors. In the absence of salt stress four terpenoids were detected from the spearmint extracts, all of them being monoterpenes. On the other hand, the transgenic (MSIso) extracts contained eleven terpenoids (10 monoterpenes and 1 phenylpropene) while transgenic (MSLimo) extracts contained seven monoterpenes. After 3 days of fungal infection, the resistance indices further increased to 4.38, 3.89 and 2.04 for wild type, MSIso and MSLimo, respectively. The salt and fungal elicitators proved beneficial towards modifying both the terpenoids profile and improvement in the composition of essential oil. These results have important applications for the large-scale production of essential oils and forest biotechnology with respect to spearmint.

• The Journal of Dong Guk Oriental Medicine
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• v.11
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• pp.41-51
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• 2008

Dietary supplements are used by more than one-half of the adult US population. By contrast, herbal products in Germany are carefully regulated by the same standards as drugs, and efforts are under way to standardize their regulation in the entire European Union. Most herbal users do not inform their physicians that they are taking these supplements, and most physicians do not inquire. Although some herbal products have clinically proven benefits, it is increasingly apparent that many contain potentially toxic substances, particularly in relation to interactions with drugs. Hence, it is essential that practicing physicians develop a working knowledge of herbals-specifically, about claims for their usage and potential or proven efficacies and toxicities-and that they incorporate such knowledge into the evaluation and management of their patients. By contrast, functional foods-integral components of the diet that are understood to contribute added health benefits-are the subject of intense and widespread research in food and nutritional science. Examples include many polyphenolic substances, carotenoids, soy isoflavones, fish oils, and components of nuts that possess antioxidant and other properties that decrease the risk of vascular diseases and cancer. Practicing physicians are advised to stay abreast of these emerging findings in order to best advise their patients on the value of health-promoting diets in disease prevention.