• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2012

Sweet potato soju(SPS) has been made by vacuum distillation because sweet potato contains much fibrous materials which give high density to sweet potato mash. Generally, the SPS made by vacuum distillation has soft flavors and tastes. If the viscosity of sweet potato mash could be decreased by degradation enzyme, the process and production of SPS making by the method of vacuum distillation may be simplified and easier to distil the fermented sweet potato. Because the fibrous materials of sweet potato contains pectin with methoxyl group, methanol can be produced by fibrous degradation enzyme. For appling the fiber degradation enzymes to sweet potato mash for making SPS, the enzyme should be needed to degrade fibrous material without producing methanol. Special two fibrolytic enzymes are selected from 26 kind of commercial enzymes for the simplified and easier production of sweet potato soju by vacuum distillation, The selected enzyme A and X can degrade the fibrous material pectin of sweet potato without producing methanol. Although the different companies have produced the enzymes, same cellulase has been prepared from Trichoderma. reesei. The viscosity of sweet potato mash treated by the enzymes is decreased by 3 times with comparison to the viscosity of sweet potato mash of control group. The methanol concentration in the vacuum distilled SPS treated with the enzymes is 0.16%. The concentration is similar to that of commercially distilled SPS(0.15%). The result may suggest that the selected cellulases, A and X, can be used to make SPS by vacuum distillation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.258-266
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• 2014

Sweet potato soju (SPS), a form of traditional distilled alcoholic liquor in Korea, is manufactured by the distillation of fermented broth under normal pressure, thus providing it for a uniquely smooth taste infused with the flavor of sweet potato. After distillation, the lees of SPS is produced as by-product and discarded. In this study, the ethanol and hot water extracts of lees of SPS, and their subsequent organic solvent fractions using hexane, ethylacetate (EA), butanol, and water residue were prepared in an effort at the efficient re-use of the lees of SPS. The ethanol extraction yield was 1.36-fold higher than that of the hot water extraction, and the EA fraction revealed the highest total polyphenol content among the solvent fractions. The various extracts and solvent fractions did not demonstrate hemolytic activity at up to 0.5 mg/ml concentrations against human red blood cells. In the bioactivity assay, only the EA fraction displayed a broad spectrum of anti-microbial activity against different pathogenic and food spoilage bacteria, and demonstrated significant anti-coagulation activity by inhibitions of thrombin, prothrombin and blood coagulation factors. Furthermore, only the EA fraction from the hot water extract of the lees of SPS showed anti-platelet aggregation activity, which is comparable to aspirin (a commercially available drug). Our results suggest that the EA fraction of the hot water extract prepared from the lees of SPS has a high potential as a novel resource for anti-microbial and anti-thrombosis agents.