The purpose of this study was to prepare blueberry syrup (cheung) using fructooligosaccharide instead of the traditionally used sucrose. The sugar content, pH, and colorimetric values were measured to evaluate the quality of the prepared syrup, and the antioxidant activity and phenolic compound content were determined to assess the physiological activity of the syrup. The L* value (lightness), pH, and color were high in syrups containing a high proportion of fructooligosaccharide. The a* value (redness) was high in syrups subjected to heat treatment, and the b* value (yellowness) tended to be the opposite of the L* value. Moreover, syrups containing heat-treated fructooligosaccharide showed higher polyphenol, flavonoid, and anthocyanin contents than the unheated syrups did. The antioxidant activity of the blueberry cheung depended on the content of phenolic compounds. The highest value was obtained in the cheung prepared using a heat-treated 1:1 mixture of blended raw blueberry and fructooligosaccharide (S2). These findings suggest that our familiarity with the taste of the sweetener used influences our taste preference. It is therefore necessary to study other newly developed sweeteners apart from fructooligosaccharide to find a suitable alternative to sucrose.

Background : Cirsium plants have been used for perennial edible plants and grow wild in the mountainous regions of Korea, including Cirsium setidens and C. pendulum. In particular, C. setidens is commonly called 'gondre', and it has been used medicinally for diseases such as hematuria, hepatitis and hypertension. Hairy roots cultivation can be used as a method for increasing production through mass culture of medicinal plants, and elicitors such as methyl jasmonate (MeJa) can be treated to increase the content of certain useful ingredients. In this study, the hairy root was derived from the leaf tissues of C. setidens and C. pendulum, and the HPLC pattern was compared by MeJa treatment. Methods and Results : Agrobacterium rhizogenes R1000 was used to induce hairy roots in 1/2× MS medium. In addition, the hairy roots was treated with MeJa for different time (0, 1, 2, 5, 10, 24, 48, 72 h) and with various concentrations (0, 10, 50, 100, 200, 300 μM). The HPLC pattern changes were analyzed by on-line HPLC-ABTS. Four new peaks were observed in both Cirsium setidens and C. pendulum hairy roots, all of which showed antioxidant activity. In the case of C. pendulum, chlorogenic acid content was about 4 times higher than that of leaves. These peaks, including chlorogenic acid, were all affected by MeJa treatment. Conclusion : Four peaks were detected in the hairy roots of C. setidens and C. pendulum not in the leaves, and they were confirmed to be affected by the treatment of MeJa. It is necessary to clarify the structure through the subsequent compound separation.

We developed an efficient protocol for transformation of balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorum) root cultures by using cotyledon leaf explants that were infected by Agrobacterium rhizogenes. We found that four different strains of A. rhizogenes differed in their ability to transform P. grandiflorum hairy root cultures. We also found correct antibiotics concentration for selection after transformation by Agrobacterium. Our results demonstrate that use of suitable strain of A. rhizogenes and correct level of antibiotics for the hairy root culture, and may allow to study and apply of valuable metabolites like phenolic compounds from P. grandiflorum hairy root culture.

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.) is an alternative crop belonging to the Polygonaceae family. Buckwheat has been well known as a plant source of rutin, quercetin, kaempferol-3-rutinoside and other phenolic compounds. Buckwheat contains more rutin than most of the other plants, which exhibits antioxidative, antihemorrhagic and blood vessel protecting properties. Phenylalanin ammonia-lyase (PAL), chalcone synthase (CHS), flavone 3-hydroxylase (F3H), and anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) were important enzymes involved in the flavonoid biosynthesis in buckwheat. In this study, we have purified full-length PAL, CHS, F3H and ANS from buckwheat using RACE PCR with degenerated primers targeted to conserved regions of orthologous sequences PAL, CHS, F3H and ANS available. The open reading frame of FePAL was 2112 nucleotides long, encodes for 704 amino acids. FePAL gene shares 80-81% identity and 88-90% similarity with Arabidopsis thaliana PAL1, Capsicum annuum PAL, Lactuca sativa PAL, and Populus trichocarpa PAL2. The cDNA of FeCHS has 1179 nucleotides open reading frame, encoding for 393 amino acids. FeCHS has identities and similarities ranging 84-86% and 92-95%, respectively, with other CHSs from P. trichocarpa, Citrus sinensis, Gerbera hybrid, and Vitis rotundifolia, whereas this gene shares 93% identity and 98% similarity with Polygonum cuspidatum. The cDNA of FeF3H has 1101 nucleotides open reading frame, encoding for 367 amino acids. FeF3H has identities and similarities ranging 76-81% and 92-97%, respectively, with other F3Hs from Gossypium hirsutum, Dimocarpus longan, Garcinia mangostana, Camellia sinensis, Vitis vinifera, Rubus coreanus, Pyrus communis, Glycine max, and Actinidia chinensis. The open reading frame of FeANS was 1074 nucleotides long, encodes for 358 amino acids. FeANS gene shares 74-76% identity and 94-96% similarity with Gypsophila elegans, C. sinensis and G. hirsutum. These result provieded the theoretical basis for the metabolic engineering on buckwheat.

Allium sativum, belongs to a member of the onion family (Alliaceae) are economically important vegetables because of the culinary value and medicinal purpose. Using PCR strategy with degenerated primers targeted to conserved regions of orthologous phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H) sequences available, full-length PAL and C4H from A. sativum. The amino acid sequence of these genes is highly conserved, particularly AsPAL and AsC4H has greater than 70% amino acid identity to other plants. AsPAL and AgC4H were most highly expressed in roots of A. sativum, whereas lowest level of transcript was detected in flower. Phenolic compounds most highly produced in flowers of A. sativum. The presented sequences and expression an alysis of PAL and C4H will provide possible material to enhance the understading of phenolic compounds synthesis in A. sativum.

Methyl jasmonate(MeJA) treatment promotes the plant secondary, especially triterpene saponin which is main compounds in Platycodon grandiflorum. We were performed 5,760 expressed sequence tags from MeJA treated hairy root. Total number of ESTs are 2,536 (811 contigs and 1,725 singletons) among them 2,299 are pass the annotation. The most abundant transcript were encoding fatty acid desaturase (FAD) and lots of secondary metabolite transcript were observed. Four MVA pathway genes (HMGS, HMGR, MK, MDD) and one MEP pathway gene (IDI) are identified. The unigene were classified into three major functional categories by standard GO (Gene Ontology) - cellular component, molecular function and biological process. In this study we were cloned four genes from ESTs : HMGS (1401bp ORF), MK (1167bp ORF), MDD (1254bp ORF), IDI (909bp ORF)

A new graft cactus (Gymnocalycium schickendantzii × G. mihanovichii) cultivar “Geoseong” was developed from a interspecific crossing between a green G. schickendantzii and G. mihanovichii line “950222” by in vitro grafting and line selection at National H

A new graft cactus (Gymnocalycium mihanovichii) cultivar “Suhong” was developed from a cross between G. mihanovichii cv. “Seolhong” and a line “940623” by in vitro grafting and line selection at National Horticultural Research Institute, Rural Development

A new graft cactus (Gymnocalycium mihanovichii) cultivar “Hwiseong” was developed from a cross between G. mihanovichii “Orenge” and a line “943011” by in vitro grafting and line selection at National Horticultural Research Institute, Rural Development Adm

A new graft cactus (Gymnocalycium mihanovichii) cultivar 'eumhong' was developed from a cross 'G9331'and 'onkyo G1-13'of G. mihanovichii by in vitro grafting and line selection at National Horticultural Research Institute, Rural Development Administration

A new graft cactus (Gymnocalycium mihanovichii) cultivar “Danhong” was developed from a cross “930903” and “IG9332” of G. mihanovichii by in vitro grafting and line selection at National Horticultural Research Institute, Rural Development Administration i

A new graft cactus (Gymnocalycium mihanovichii) cultivar “Heukhong” was developed from a crossing “941101” with mixed pollens of 10 unknown cultivars of G. mihanovichii by in vitro grafting and line selection at National Horticultural Research Institute,

A new graft cactus (Gymnocalycium mihanovichii) cultivar ‘Suhwang’ was developed from a crossing ‘9502165’ with mixed pollens of 10 unknown cultivars of G. mihanovichii by in vitro grafting and line selection at National Horticultural Research Institute,

Four introduced forage rape (Brassica napus) cultivars, 'Akela', 'Ramon', 'Sparta', and 'Velox' and a leading rapeseed cultivar, 'Hallayuchae' were grown at nitrogen (N) rates of 0, 100, 250, 300, 350, and 400 kg/ha to (i) select forage rape cultivars adapted best to Cheju area, and (ii) determine the optimum N rate for the best cultivars. Days from seeding to flowering across the cultivars increased 190 to 195 days as N rate increased from 0 to 400 kg/ha. Average days to flowering of six cultivars ranged from 182 to 198 days. Plant height increased as N rate increased up to 300 kg/ha and then decreased with a further increase in N rate and ranged from 159 to 174 cm among the cultivars. The optimum N rate for the greatest dry matter yield of five cultivars ranged from 222 to 258 kg/ha. Sparta showed the greatest dry matter yield (35.79 Mg/ha), followed by Akela, Hallayuchae, Velox, and Ramon. As N rate increased, crude protein content linearly increased but crude fiber content declined curvilinearly. Akela and Sparta had higher protein content than the other cultivars did. The forage cultivars had lower crude fiber content than the oilseed cultivar Hallayuchae did. Our results demonstrated that Sparta was best adapted to Cheju area and the optimum N rate for Sparta was about 220kg/ha.

Four introduced forage rape cultivars 'Akela', 'Ramon', 'Sparta', and 'Velox' and a leading rapeseed cultivar Hall-ayuchae were seeded on 1 October 1994 on 20-cm rows at seeding rates of 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, and IS kg/ha to select the best adapted forage rape cultivars and to determine the optimum seeding rate in the Cheju area. Days to flowering of each cultivar was not significantly affected by seeding rate. Average plant height increased from 151 to 164 cm as seeding rate increased from 3 to 10 kg/ha and then decreased to 156 cm at 15 kg/ha. Stem diameter linearly decreased with increasing seeding rate. The optimum seeding rate for the greatest dry matter and protein yields of five cultivars ranged from 10.7 to 11.8 and 10.8 to 14.4 kg/ha, respectively. Dry matter yields of five cultivars ranged from 7.72 and 22.01 Mg/ha. Sparta produced the greatest dry matter yield, followed by Akela, Ramon, Hallayuchae, and Velox. Crude protein yields of five cultivars ranged from 0.29 to 1.08 Mg/ha. Sparta produced the greatest crude protein yield, followed by Akela, Ramon, Velox, and Hallayuchae. As seeding rate increased, crude protein content linearly increased but crude fiber content linearly decreased. The forage cultivars had higher crude protein and lower crude fiber than the oilseed cultivar Hallayuchae. Our results demonstrate that Sparta was the best adapted cultivar to Cheju area and the optimum seeding rate for Sparta was about 10 kg/ha.