• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.85-90
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• 1993

The aglycones of vicine and convicine have been implicated as the causative factors for favism in fababeans. Thus, the presence of these compounds in fababeans is a potential obstacle to the use of fababeans and fababean preparations in foods. Investigations of vicine stability in fababeans and in pure solutions revealed that vicine is very stable, however, divicine derived from vicine by ${\beta}-gIucosidase$ action or by acid hydrolysis is highly unstable at conditions prevalent in food processing. Therefore, the possibility of incorporating of ${\beta}-gIucosidase$ in food products containing fababean preparations was suggested to overcome potential risks of favism related to the consumption of fababean fortified products.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: Momordica charantia (MC) have been used in various parts of the world to treat diabetes. Despite the highest effects of phytochemicals than any other part of the plant, the main components of seed of MC grown in Korea and their properties have not been studied extensively. METHODS AND RESULTS: The seeds of MC were extracted into five different polarity solvents: 30%, 50%, 70%, 95% ethanol and distilled water. The 95% ethanol extract showed the most potent inhibition ($IC_{50}=88.7{\mu}g/mL$) against ${\alpha}$-glucosidase. To investigate the compounds responsible for this effect, activity guided fractionation of MC seeds by chromatography yielded two phytochemicals which were confirmed as vicine (1) and ${\alpha}$-eleostearic acid (2) based on their NMR and ESI-MS spectroscopic data. Among them, ${\alpha}$-eleostearic acid (2) possessed potent ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities with $IC_{50}$ values from $32.4{\mu}g/mL$. CONCLUSION: Collectively, the results from this present study strongly suggest that both extract and ${\alpha}$-eleostearic acid (2) have potent ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity. Furthermore, ${\alpha}$-eleostearic acid (2) as the most active ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitor was proven to be present in high quantities in the MC seeds by a HPLC chromatogram.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.490-500
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• 2017

This study was performed to evaluate repeated dose oral toxicity upon administration of the test substance 1,2-benzisothiazolin-3-one for 90 days and to determine NOAEL (no observed adverse effect level) and target organs in Sprague-Dawley rats. Single, 2-week repeated, and 13-week repeated oral dose toxicity studies were conducted in Sprague-Dawley rats. The dose levels of groups were 1,250, 2,500, and 5,000 mg/kg/d. All dose groups were compared with the vehicle control group. The animals were observed for clinical signs and weekly body weight. Urinalysis, hematology, and serum biochemistry analyses were conducted. Subsequently, animals were sacrificed and subjected to histopathological examination. For the result, NOAEL of ethanol extract from unripe fruit of bitter melon had an optimal dose of 5,000 mg/kg/d and acceptable daily intake up to 3,000 mg/man. There was no target organ detected. Therefore, bitter melon, which contains a variety of bioactive substances, could be widely used as a health functional food ingredient.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.701-707
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• 2016

The charantin contents of leaves, stems, female and male flowers, and fruits in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) were analyzed at different harvest seasons to investigate the availability of potential edible parts other than fruits. The charantin contents of fruits ranged from 14.7 to $16.0mg{\cdot}g^{-1}$ dry weight (DW) and those of leaves ranged from 131.4 to $138.0mg{\cdot}g^{-1}DW$, which was eight times higher than in fruits. The charantin contents of female and male flowers and stems were also significantly higher than those of the fruits. The ratio of total charantin content was highest in leaves (48%) of DW, followed by female flowers (20-21%), male flowers (14%), stems (12-13%), and fruits (5%). The charantin contents of fruits harvested 14 days after fruit setting was higher in June to mid-July (20.2 to $23.3mg{\cdot}g^{-1}DW$) than in late July to late August (13.3 to $19.4mg{\cdot}g^{-1}DW$). The higher the fruit weight, the lower the charantin contents, which showed that a negative correlation exists between fruit weight and charantin contents in bitter gourd. These results suggest that to obtain bitter gourd fruits with high charantin contents, fruits should be harvested until mid-July when fruit growth is fast and temperature is high. In addition, leaves, stems, and female and male flowers of bitter gourd can be used as for food, which are known to reduce blood sugar level.