This study was conducted to obtain the basic data for using the Artemisia anuua as a new economic crop,thus Artemisia anuua was investigated their cultivation characteristics, yield, and variation of artemisinin contents by plantingdensity and harvesting times. Seed characteristics of A. anuua have observed micro-size, and their germination optimumtemperature was at 15 to 20 celsius degree. Planting density on the yield of A. anuua was increased high density better thanlow density. The highest yield was planted in the space of 30×10㎝. Moreover, optimum harvesting time of A. anuua wasinvestigated in early september and a periods of most highly detected artemisinin was time of before and after bloomingof A. anuua.Key Words : Art
This study was conducted to investigate the antioxidative activity and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of 50%ethanol extract and its fractions from the branch of Rhododendron schlippenbachii. In DPPH radical scavenging ability,butanol and ethyl acetate fractions showed 59.98% and 55.17% of relative activity compared with positive control (ascorbicacid), but the 50% ethanol extract showed relatively low activity. In nitric oxide (NO) scavenging ability, the ethyl acetateand butanol fractions showed 141.80% and 131.55% relative activity compared with ascorbic acid as used for posi-tive control. On the other hand, tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the ethyl acetate and butanol fractions showed about twicehigher activity than positive control (arbutin). It means that the ethyl acetate and butanol fractions from the extract of R.schlippenbachii branch has ability for used as effective radical scavenger and tyrosinase inhibitor.
The development of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and expressed sequence tag-derivedsimple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) provided a useful tool for investigating Korean ginseng genetic diversity. In this study,18 polymorphic markers (7 RAPD and 11 EST-SSR) selected to assess the genetic diversity in 31 ginseng accessions (11Korean ginseng cultivars and 20 breeding lines). In RAPD analysis, a total of 53 unique polymorphic bands were obtainedfrom ginseng accessions and number of amplicons ranged from 4 to 11 with a mean of 7.5 bands. Pair-wise genetic similaritycoefficient (Nei) among all pairs of ginseng accessions varied from 0.01 to 0.32, with a mean of 0.11. On the basis of theresulting data, the 31 ginseng accessions were grouped into six clusters. As a result of EST-SSR analysis, 11 EST-SSR mark-ers detected polymorphisms among the 31 ginseng accessions and revealed 49 alleles with a mean of 4.45 alleles per primer.The polymorphism information content (PIC) value ranged from 0.06 to 0.31, with an average of 0.198. The 31 ginsengaccessions were classified into five groups by cluster analysis based on Nei’s genetic distances. Consequently, the results ofginseng-specific RAPD and EST-SSR markers may prove useful for the evaluation of genetic diversity and discrimination ofKorean ginseng cultivars and breeding lines.
Collected germplasms of five representative species belonging to Curcuma genus (C. longa, C. aromatica, C.zedoaria, C. phaeocaulis and C. kwangsiensis) were 52 samples from different farmhouse in Korea and China. To elucidatethe genetic diversity among the species, 52 samples were analyzed by genomic fingerprinting method using amplified frag-ment length polymorphism (AFLP). AFLP results of 6 primer combinations were revealed 643 total DNA fragments and349 polymorphic bands with the 54.3% ratio of polymorphism. In the analysis of coefficient similarity using unweight pairgroup method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA), 52 Curcuma germplasm lines were ranged from 0.60 to 0.99 and clus-tered distinct five groups according to the species and collected geographical levels. However, the result of principal coordi-nate analysis (PCA) by multi-variate analysis was shown significantly greater differences among species than geographicalorigins based on AFLP profiling data of these samples.
This study was investigated to evaluate germination rate of Astragalus membranaceus B. in Korea as affectedby storage temperature, germination temperature and storage period of seed. The highest germination rate was obtainedfrom condition of 25℃ in germination temperature. Seeds were stored at −20℃ and 5℃ for 8 weeks has showed higher ger-mination rate than one at room temperatures. The germination rates showed significantly difference by harvested year of2010, 2011 and 2012. The seed of A. membranaceus in harvested year of 2011 and 2012 had germinated well. On the otherhand, seeds in harvested year of 2010 were not nearly germinated. Consequently, the longer storage period after seed har-vest lower germination rate and seed vigor as well.
This study investigates the effect of supercritical fluid extract (CMPB803-C) of Lithospermum erythrorhizon,shikonin and acetylshikonin isolated from Lithospermum erythrorhizon on IL-1β-induced chondrocytes and monosodiumiodoacetate (MIA)-induced osteoarthritis in rat. Shikonin (50μM) and acetylshikonin (3μM) treatment reduced signifi-cantly the mRNA expression and enzyme activity of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, −3 and −13 in IL-1β-inducedSW1353 chondrosarcoma cells. The chondro-protective effects of CMPB803-C and acetylshikonin were than analyzed in arat OA model using a single intra-articular injection of MIA (1㎎) in the right knee joint. CMPB803-C (200㎎/㎏) or ace-tylshikonin (5㎎/㎏) was orally administered daily for two weeks starting after 1 week of MIA injection. In the histologicalobservation, CMPB803-C and acetylshikonin clearly improved OA lesions being comparable to or better that control group.Our results demonstrated that CMPB803-C and acetylshikonin as active compound of Lithospermum erythrorhizon have astrong chondro-protective effect in OA rats, which likely attributes to its anti-inflammatory activity and inhibition ofMMPs production.
Pharmacological studies and clinical practices have indicated that Radix Astragali, a dried root of Astragalusmembranaceus possesses a lot of biological activities, including antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-diabetic, tonic, diuretic,antimicrobial, antiviral, and immunological activities. These biological activities approved by the modern pharmacologicalstudies are mainly due to the constituents of Astragalus membranaceus including polysaccharides, saponins, flavonoids,amino acids, and trace elements. In resent, the main constituents in the root part showing a lot of biological activities hasbeen isolated also from the aboveground parts such as leaves and sprouts in our laboratory. However, the safety evaluationfor the aboveground parts of Astragalus membranaceus should be checked before expanding their application as one of food.In the study, a 90-day rat oral gavage study has been conducted with the extracts from Astragalus membranaceus-above-ground parts at doses of 1000, 3000, and 5000㎎/㎏/day. The following endpoints were evaluated: clinical observations, bodyweight, gross and microscopic pathology, clinical chemistry, and hematology. Based on the analysis of these endpoints, it wasestimated that NOEL (no observed effect level) for male rats and NOAEL (no observed adverse effect level) for female ratsare 5000㎎/㎏/day of the water-extracts from Astragalus membranaceus-aboveground parts.
This study has been conducted to establish the optimal extraction process and HPLC analysis method for thedetermination of marker compounds as a part of the materials standardization for the development of health functionalfood materials from Astragali radix. Five extraction conditions including the shaking extraction at room temperature andthe reflux extraction at 85℃ with 30%, 50% and 95% ethanol were evaluated. Reflux extraction with 50% ethanol showedthe highest extraction yield as 27.27±2.27%, while the extraction under reflux with 95% ethanol showed significantly thelowest yield of 10.55±0.24%. The quantitative determination methods of calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside and calycosin asmarker compounds of Astragali radix extracts were optimized by HPLC analysis using a Thermo Hypersil column(4.6×250㎜, 5㎛) with the gradient elution of water and acetonitrile as the mobile phase at the flow rate of 0.8mL min-¹and a detection wavelength of 230㎚. The HPLC/UV method was applied successfully to the quantification of two markercompounds in Astragali radix extracts after validation of the method with the linearity, accuracy and precision. The con-tents of calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside and calycosin in 50% ethanol extracts by reflux extraction were significantly higher as1,700.3±30.4 and 443.6±8.4㎍ g-1, respectively, comparing with those in other extracts. The results indicate that thereflux extraction with 50% ethanol at 85℃ is optimal for the extraction of Astragali radix, and the established HPLCmethod are very useful for the evaluation of marker compounds in Astragali radix extracts to develop the health functionalmaterial from Astragali radix.
This study was designed to analyze the chemical composition of essential oil in ‘Shiranuhi’ immature fruitand to test their biological activities. ‘Shiranuhi’ immature essential oils (SIEO) were obtained by steam distillation fromfruits collected from Jeju Island and were analyzed using gas chromatograph (GC)-flame ionization detectors (FID) andGC-MS. Fourteen components were identified in the essential oil. Limonene (75.21%) and terpineol (8.68%) were the majorcomponents in SIEO. Since acne vulgaris is the combined result of a bacterial infection and the inflammatory response tothat infection, we examined whether SIEO possessed antibacterial against skin pathogens. As a result, SIEO showed excel-lent antibacterial activities against drug-susceptible and -resistant Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis,which are acne-causing bacteria. In this study, SIEO was examined on DPPH radical scavenging activities, which showedmoderate antioxidant activity (SC50, 15.36µL/mL). In order to determined whether SIEO can be safely applied to humanskin, the cytotoxicity effects of SIEO were determined by colorimetric MTT assays in normal human fibroblasts and kerati-nocyte HaCaT cells. They exhibited low cytotoxicity at 0.5µL/mL in both celllines. Based on these results, we suggest thepossibility that essential oil of ‘Shiranuhi’ maybe considered as an antibacterial and antioxidant agent.