• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.446-454
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• 2008

The traditional Korean drink "Jehotang", which is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for treatment of the heat stroke accompanied by high fever, severe sweat and thirst, it is effective far quenching thirst strengthening the stomach, stopping diarrhea and regulating intestinal function. It is also known to play a role in activating the growth of useful microbes in the intestine and in multiplying intestinal immune cells. Thus, this study investigated all aspects of the drink in an effort to develop a new functional beverage. In the course of this study, the analytical research into the literature concerning Jehotang an error in the secrets of preparing the drink. The Japanese apricot, which was given the botanical name, "Prunusmume", should only be used with the flesh (scientifically referred to as "Fructusmume"), which is fumigated with straw fire before drying. and the seed should be thrown away. The honey should only be used after it is heated with a gentle fire, before removing the white foam that farms on its surface to make the "Yeonmil". Two kinds of cooking processes were found in the ancient literature. One procedure boiling down the powered Fructus mume mixed with the Yeonmil, while the other procedure involved preparing the Fructus mume's water by adding water to it and blending the water with the Yeonmil and the rest of the raw ingredient before boiling them down. The current procedure, in which the cooking is done in a double boiler, has been widely adopted to its simplicity. The finished Jehotang is put in porcelain, kept at room temperature, and consumed after mixing with cold water.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.271-280
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• 2018

Background: Astragalus membranaceus is a well known oriental medicinal herb. The polysaccharides of the aboveground parts (AMA) and the radix (AMR) of A. membranaceus are the most important functional constituents. Methods and Results: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of AMA and AMR on the oxidative damage induced in the skeletal muscle of rats subjected to exhaustive exercise. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into exercise and non-exercise groups; in the groups receiving the test compounds, AMA and AMR were administered orally for 30 days. Skeletal muscle samples were collected from each rat after running to exhaustion on a treadmill to determine the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and catalase (CAT) and the concentation of malondialdehyde (MDA). The antioxidant enzyme activities of SOD and GSH-Px of skeletal muscle of AMA- and AMR-treated groups were significantly higher than those of the control and commercial sports drink (SPD)-treated groups in exhaustive exercise rats. In addition, MDA concentrations in the skeletal muscle of the AMA- and AMR-treated groups were significantly lower than those of the control and SPD-treated groups. In the present study, the effects of AMA and AMR on exercise endurance capacity were also evaluated in mice subjected to a swimming exercise test. AMA and AMR supplementation prolonged the swimming time of mice and enhanced exercise endurance capacity. AMA and AMR possess the ability to retard and lower the production of blood lactate, and prevent the decrease of serum blood glucose. Conclusions: These results showed that, AMR and AMA exerted beneficial effect in mice, increasing the activity of the antioxidant systems and inhibiting oxidative stress induced by exhaustive exercise. The compounds improved exercise performance and showed anti-fatigue effects against exhaustive exercise.