Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is associated with the development of extrinsic skin aging. We performed in vivo assays in order to investigate the protective effect of a combination of grapefruit and rosemary extracts (cG&Re) on UVB-induced skin aging. The results indicated that cG&Re displayed elastase inhibitory activity in a dose-dependent manner. Topical application of cG&Re mitigated photo-aging related lesions such as skin erythema and thickening in photo-aged BALB/c mice dorsal skin, by preventing UVB-induced collagen degradation. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that cG&Re stimulated SIRT-1 expression, and suppressed MMP-1 and IL-1β expression. It was observed that expression of MMP-1 and -13 mRNA was downregulated in the cG&Re-treated group. Furthermore, cG&Re treatment drastically suppressed protein expression of MMP-1 and regulated the phosphorylation of p-38 kinase. As expected, oral administration of cG&Re resulted in the same SIRT-1, MMP-1, and IL-1β expression patterns observed upon topical application of cG&Re in the UV-induced mice model. Overall, the current results demonstrated that cG&Re attenuated both the downregulation of MMP-1 expression and up-regulation of SIRT-1 expression, as well as decreased phosphorylation of MAPK in UVB-induced skin ageing mice model, suggesting that cG&Re might be used as an internal food ingredient for beauty-purposes as well as a functional food material.
Stevia rebaudiana (Asteraceae), a perennial plant, has been used as a low-calorie sweetener and is being developed as a therapeutic agent for diabetes, hypertension, myocardial diseases, and microbial infections. Despite the common use of its leaves and stem, the bioavailability of the components present in S. rebaudiana flowers, when used as ingredients of cosmetics, has not been well investigated. Herein, we investigated the antioxidative and antimelanogenic effects of an aqueous extract of S. rebaudiana flowers (Stevia-F). Total flavonoid and phenolic content in Stevia-F were determined to be 8.64 ± 0.23 ㎎ of quercetin equivalents/100 g and 631.5 ± 2.01 ㎎ of gallic acid equivalents/100 g, respectively. The IC50 values of Stevia-F for reducing power, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate radical, hydrogen peroxide, and nitric oxide scavenging activities were 5541.96, 131.39, 466.34, and 10.44 ㎍/mL, respectively. Stevia-F showed inhibitory effects on the tyrosinase (IC50 = 134.74 ㎍/mL) and α-glucosidase (IC50 = 114.81 ㎍/mL) activities. No significant cytotoxicity of Stevia-F was observed in B16F10 cells, treated with up to 100 ㎍/mL of the extract for 24 and 48 h (p > 0.05). Stevia-F (1–100 ㎍/mL) suppressed α-melanocyte stimulating hormone-induced melanin production in B16F10 cells (p < 0.05) and also inhibited the cellular tyrosinase activity (p < 0.05). Overall, our results show that Stevia-F possesses potential for inhibiting tyrosinase and α-glucosidase activities and has significant antioxidant capacity. The antimelanogenic potential of Stevia-F should extend the usage of S. rebaudiana flowers in the development of skinwhitening products.
This study is conducted to investigate the effects of growth characteristics (GC) and DPPH radical scavenging activity (DRSA) of the heading lettuce ‘Fidel’ depending on four concentrations of activated mineral groups (AMG: 1.6% active minerals and 0.03% CaO) added to basic nutrient solutions (diluted by 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2%) and on four different light-emitting diodes (LED; B:R:W ratio = 0:1:12, 0:1:9, 0:5:5, and 2:3:5). Both 0.1 and 0.2% AMG showed better GC of lettuce in plant width, plant length, leaf width, leaf length, and the number of leaves than those of other AMG, while leaf thickness and chlorophyll value did not show significant difference among all AMG. Moreover, 0.1 and 0.2% AMG showed heavier shoot fresh weights than those of other AMG. As for the combinations of AMG and LED, B0:R5:W5 showed the best lettuce GC regardless of AMG compared to other AMG and LED combinations. As shown in the above results of LED, although there was a difference in lettuce growth by LED, the differences of lettuce growth by AMG were statistically significant. The DRSA was the highest at 82.8% in B2:R3:W5, followed by B0:R5:W5 at 77.8%. LED showed differences but AMG did not affect DRSA. Therefore, the optimal conditions in plant factory for GC and DRSA of the lettuce were 0.1% AMG and B0:R5:W5.
Soybean is the one of recalcitrant legume species for shoot induction. Shoot regeneration via direct organogenesis was investigated in five soybean cultivars, ‘Dawon’, ‘Pungsan’, ‘Daewon’, ‘Taekwang’ and ‘Chongdoo 1’ by using cotyledonary node explants. Out of 5 soybean cultivars, an efficient shoot regeneration condition was developed in the two soybean cultivars, ‘Dawon’ and ‘Pungsan’. When various kinds of plant growth regulators with different concentration were estimated, the optimum medium condition for shoot induction in both soybean cultivars was MS + B5 vitamin supplemented with BA at concentration 2 ㎎/L. In addition, shoot formation efficiency was increased with 97.09% and 93.88% by the pretreatment of BA onto the explants before in vitro culture in both cultivars. Shoot induction in ‘Dawon’ cultivar was originated from epidermal tissue and sub-epidermal layers when histological changes were investigated under shoot regeneration after culturing cotyledonary node segments on shoot induction medium for 0 to 21 days. Especially, cell dedifferentiation was observed from parenchyma cells to meristematic cell in 3-day cultured segments.
In crop breeding program, information about genetic dissimilarity on breeding resources is very important to corroborate genealogical relationships and to predict the most heterozygotic hybrid combinations and inbred breeding. This study aimed to evaluate the genetic variation in Kenyan sunflower breeding lines based on simple sequence repeat (SSR). A total of 83 alleles were detected at 32 SSR loci. The allele number per locus ranged from 2 to 7 with an average of 2.7 alleles per locus detected from the 24 sunflower accessions and the average value of polymorphic information contents (PIC) were 0.384. A cluster analysis based on the genetic similarity coefficients was conducted and the 24 sunflower breeding resources were classified into three groups. The principal coordinates (PCoA) revealed 34% and 13.38% respectively, and 47.38% of total variation. It was found that the genetic diversity within the Kenyan sunflower breeding resources was narrower than that in other sunflower germplasm resources, suggesting the importance and feasibility of introducing elite genotypes from different origins for selection of breeding lines with broader genetic base in Kenyan sunflower breeding program.