Background : Oplopanax elatus has many compounds such as essential oils, saponin, flavonoids, anthraquinones, and polyacetylenes etc. in all part of stems, roots, and leaves. It is traditionally used to treat asthma, depressive states, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes mellitus, rheumatism, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorders, and wounds. In this study, the evaluation of several factors affecting the variation of chemical constituents and antioxidant activity in stem of O. elatus. Methods and Results : Five compounds (uracil, adenosine, protocatechuic acid, syringin, and scoparone) were isolated from the water extract of in stems of O. elatus. We extracted stems of them with hot water by different temperature (85 and 100℃) and times (1, 4, and 7 hrs.) and analyzed contents of five compounds by HPLC and antioxidant activity such as DPPH, ABTS and reducing power assay. The contents of five compounds varied depending on the extraction time and extraction temperature, the contents of uracil and protocatechuic acid in extracts of stems reduced with times. However, there is no difference the amount of variation in chemical constituents in stems of O. elatus. The antioxidant free radical scavenging activities of its stem extracts in 85℃ water (IC50 = 34.56 ± 0.8 ㎍/㎖ of extracts) showed more activity than extracts in 100℃ water (IC50 = 39.58 ± 1.6 ㎍/㎖ of extracts) in ABTS assay. Conclusion : In conclusion, the contents of five compounds were not significantly affected by extraction time and extraction temperature. Therefore, these results could be basic data for the quality management of five compounds in stems of O. elatus extracted with hot water.

Background : Vaccinium oldhamii is a Korean native tree, which is deciduous and shrub tree with broad leaf. It was used primarily for edible or medicinal purposes for bladder infection in Korea and China. In addition, it has been reported to be used for treating inflammation, gonorrhea, vomiting, diarrhea and eruption. In this study, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect of the branch of Vaccinium oldhamii and elucidated the potential mechanisms in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Methods and Results : In the comparative experiment for the inhibitory effect of the plant parts from Vaccinium oldhamii such as fruits, leaves and branches on NO production, we observed that the branch extracts showed the highest inhibitory effect. Thus, the further study was performed using the branch of Vaccinium oldhamii (VOB). VOB did not affect iNOS expression but significantly IL-1β expression, which indicates that VOB may block NO production through the inhibition of IL-1β expression. In elucidation of the potential mechanisms for anti-inflammatory effect, VOB inhibited the degradation of IκB-α which results in the inhibition of p65 nuclear accumulation and NF-κB activation. In addition, VOB suppressed the activation of ERK1/2, p38 and JNK. Conclusion : These results indicate that VOB may exert anti-inflammatory activity through the inhibiting NF-κB and MAPK signaling. From these findings, VOB has potential to be a candidate for the development of chemoprevention or therapeutic agents for the inflammatory diseases.

Background : Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is a multipurpose small tree with unique berries of high nutritional and pharmaceutical values has wide spread distribution from Eurasia to South east Asia. In recent times the medicinal benefits of vitamin tree are inclining, hence, efforts were taken to propagate them in vitro to exploit their medicinal property. Methods and Results : The tissue culture potential of them was investigated for the ability to induce shoot organogenesis in leaf explant, and induction of direct somatic embryogenesis from leaf tissue. Moreover, we also determined the effective induction medium for callus and somatic embryo production from H. rhamnoides. To induce the callus form leaf tissue, several phytohormone combinations such as α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 6-benzyladenine (BA), 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 6-benzyladenine (BA), and Kinetin (K) were tried with the Murashige and Skoog (MS) as well as woody plant medium (WPM). In MS basal medium, the combination of 2,4-D and K showed the best callus induction rate of 71%, whereas in WPM basal medium the combination of NAA and BA showed the best callus induction rate of 91%. The adventitious root induction form callus was also attempted by using MS and B5 medium with the phytohormone combinations of IBA 1 – 5 g/ℓ. In MS medium, root was induced only at 4 g/ℓ of IBA and 64%, 51% and 55% root induction results were obtained at 3 g/ℓ, 4 g/ℓ and 5 g/ℓ in B5 basal medium, respectively. The somatic embryos were induced only in half strength MS with the triple phytohormone ratio of 2:1:2 of NAA, BA, and K. Conclusion : The in vitro propagation of sea buckthorn was successfully employed by generating callus, adventitious roots as well as the induction of somatic embryos form the leaf tissues derived callus. Our results provided a valuable addition to the utilization of H. rhamnoides thus enabling their propagation.

Background : Oplopanax elatus, comnonly called Asian devil’s club, is distributed in the northern high mountains of the Korean peninsula, northeastern China, and southeastern Russia. Its root is traditionally used to treat asthma, depressive states, chronic fatigue syndrome, and hypertension, neurasthenia, hypopiesis, schizophrenia, cardiovascular problems, diabetes mellitus, impotence, emaciation, hypotension cough, rheumatism, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorders, and wounds. Plant cell and tissue culture techniques for the mass production of adventitious roots in suspension culture allows a high proliferation rate, stable accumulation rate, and production of valuable compounds. Methods and Results : The plants were cultured on 1/4 MS medium with 1% sucrose and 1% plant agar for 3 month and they transferred to pot. The pots were contained of soil, soil + pelite (1 : 1), and soil + sand (1 : 1), respectively. The plants were measured plant length, leaf length, and leaf number. The number of leaves have represented as similar result of 7.44 ± 1.34 ㎝ in soil and 7.56 ± 1.26 ㎝ on soil + pelite. The 3.22 ± 0.53 ㎝ of plant length and the 6.57 ± 0.51 ㎝ of leaves length were highest on soil. Conclusion : The survival rate depending on soil types of Oplopanax elatus was confirmed to exist in these cases of soil and soil+pelite. However, they all died in condition of soil+vermiculite. The number of leaves have no difference and the length of plant and the length of leaves were longest on soil.

Background: This study aimed to investigate out the influence of drought stress on the physiological responses of Dendropanax morbifera seedlings. Methods and Results: Drought stress was induced by discontinuing water supply for 30 days. Under drought stress, photosynthetic activity was significantly reduced with decreasing soil water content (SWC), as revealed by the parameters such as Fv/Fm, maximum photosynthetic rate (PN max), stomatal conductance (gs), stomatal transpiration rate (E), and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci). However, water use efficiency (WUE) was increased by 2.5 times because of the decrease in gs to reduce transpiration. Particularly, E and gs were remarkably decreased when water was withheld for 21 days at 6.2% of SWC. Dendropanax morbifera leaves showed osmotic adjustment of −0.30MPa at full turgor and −0.13 MPa at zero turgor. In contrast, the maximum bulk modulus of elasticity (Emax) did not change significantly. Thus, Dendropanax morbifera seedlings could tolerate drought stress via osmotic adjustment. Conclusions: Drought avoidance mechanisms of D. morbifera involve reduction in water loss from plants, through the control of stomatal transpiration, and reduction in cellular osmotic potential. Notably photosynthetic activity was remarkably reduced, to approximately 6% of the SWC.

Background: The extract of Abies holophylla is used as an ingredient in cosmetics. This study assessed the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the material remaining after the extract is used. Methods and Results: The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2-azinobis (3-ethyl benzothiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging abilities were assessed to determined the free radical scavenging activity. The total phenol and flavonoid contents were determined to measure the antioxidant activity. The DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities of the resudual extract were higher (95.61 - 99.42% and 74.26 - 77.98% in water extract respectively) than those of the positive control. In 50% EtOH extract, the total phenol content was 389.84 ㎎·GAE/㎖, and the total flavonoid was 0.15 ㎎·QE/㎖. The minimum inhibition concentration degree for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus was < 8 to < 125 ㎍/㎖ compared to that of the positive control in all extracts. The clear zone against S. aureus was found to be 12.2 ± 3.8 ㎜. Conclusions: The A. holophylla byproducts were found to have antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Therefore, the materials remaining after the A. holophylla extract is used in cosmetics has potential functional uses. Key Words: Abies holophylla, Staphylococcus aureus, Antioxidant Activity, Antibacterial Activity

Background: The flowering plant Hippophae rhamnoides L. has been used for many studies on fruit or leaf extracts. This study was conducted to investigate the development of a new cosmetic material from H. rhamnoides fruits and leaves that have by antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and wrinkle improvement activities. Methods and Results: The antioxidant abilities of H. rhamnoides extracts, including of a water-soluble fruit powder (FW), a fatsoluble fruit powder (FF), a supercritical extract of fruit by-product (BS), and a mixture of leaf and fruit (MIX), were investigated in vitro. A DPPH radical assay for antioxidant activity was performed for these fractions alongside assay to evaluate the total phenolic and flavonoid content (TPC and TFC). As expected, the MIX had the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity (RC50 = 10.27㎍/㎖), and the TPC and TFC also were highest in MIX (225.7 ㎎·GAE/g, and 25.18 ㎎·QE/g, respectively). Nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells was estimated and the results indicated an over 75% decrease of NO production in FF and MIX. In other assays, the highest elastase inhibitory activity was found in FW. Conclusions: These results revealed that H. rhamnoides extracts have a high potential for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiwrinkle activities. H. rhamnoides products are suggested to be applied as the functional materials of cosmetic ingredients.

The leaves and stems of Dendropanax morbiferus were separated from organic solvents with methanol. The organic solvent fractions were fractionated with dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and butanol according to the systematic fractionation method. Oxidation in the body induces aging, and antioxidant activity has attracted the attention of many people as a preventive component to suppress negative reactions in the body. To investigate the antioxidant activity of Dendropanax morbiferus were subjected to DPPH free radical assay. In addition, acetyl cholinesterase inhibitions were performed for Alzheimer’s disease as an aging neurological disease. As a result, it was confirmed that the antioxidant effect of DPPH was generally good in the antioxidant test. The ethyl acetate fractions of Dendropanax morbiferus stems and leaves were IC50=30 ㎍/㎖. Acetyl cholinesterase inhibition experiments were carried out at a concentration of 250 ㎍/㎖. Dendropanax morbiferus stems fractions showed dichloromethane fraction of 57.68%, which significantly inhibited the activity of acetyl cholinesterase.

This study was designed to determine the biological activities of Chionanthus retusus flower extracts. Water and 90% ethanol extracts of C. retusus flower were prepared. The inhibitory activities of water and ethanol extracts with a phenolic content of 200 μg/mL against xanthine oxidase were 25.60% and 15.92%, respectively. Further, the water extract did not show any inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase whereas the ethanol extract showed 100.00% inhibition of α-glucosidase. The inhibitory activities of the extracts against tyrosinase were 17.27% (water extract) and 36.13% (ethanol extract), which suggest that the extracts may have a whitening effect. The water extract did not inhibit elastase activity but showed a collagenase-inhibitory activity of 20.21%. On the contrary, the ethanol extract showed 96.26% and 35.93% inhibition of collagenase and elastase, respectively. These findings suggest that the extracts may have an anti-wrinkle effect. Lastly, the extracts showed a hyaluronidase inhibitory activity of 36.96% (water extract) and 88.70% (ethanol extract), suggesting that they may have an anti-inflammatory effect. The results indicate that C. retusus flower extracts containing phenolic compounds can be used as functional resources because they have anti-gout, carbohydrate degradation-inhibitory, whitening, anti-wrinkle, and anti-inflammatory effects.

In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory effects of Abeliophyllum distichum (A. distichum) leaves that were prepared via air-drying. Fresh and air-dried A. distichum leaves were examined via 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical, and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical scavenging assay and measurements of the reducing power. The suppression effects on inflammation of the leaves were analyzed by a western blot and RT-PCR on LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. As a result, the antioxidant activity of the fresh leaves was found to be more effective than that of the air-dried leaves. Also, the fresh leaves were more effective in suppressing the protein and mRNA levels of iNOS and COX-2 than the air-dried leaves, thereby indicating the better anti-inflammatory effects. In addition, the contents of phenolic compounds and acteoside were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that the acteoside content decreased with the use of the air-drying method, while there was no change in the content of phenolic compounds. Therefore, this study indicated that fresh A. distichum leaves potential antioxidant and suppression activities of various factors that are involved in the production of NO, which were found to be better than those of air-dried A. distichum leaves. These biological activities were also found to be independent of the content of phonolic compounds and were assumed to be directly or indirectly related to the content of acteoside.

본 연구는 옻나무 추출물의 첨가가 영지버섯 미백활성 물질인 가나도마난디올의 생합성에 미치는 영향을 조사하기 위하여 수행하였다. 옻나무 열수 추출물을 1, 5, 10, 15%의 비율로 영지버섯 균사발효 시 첨가하고 발효 균사 추출물의 HPLC분석을 수행한 결과, 가나도마난디올 생합성이 첨가하지 않은 대조군에 비해 유의적 으로 증가함을 확인하였다. 또한, 옻나무 열수 추출물이 첨가되어 발효된 영지 균사 추출물의 B16F10 세포주에 대한 멜라닌 생합성 저해능을 평가한 결과 첨가하지 않은 대조군에 비해 유의적으로 저해능이 증가함을 확인하 였고, MTT분석을 통해 B16F10 세포주에 대한 생포생존율에도 영향을 미치지 않은 것을 확인하였다. 결과적으 로 옻나무 추출물이 영지버섯균사의 미백활성 물질인 가나도마난디올 생합성을 촉진하여 향후 옻나무 추출물 첨가 영지버섯균사 발효 추출물이 효과적인 화장품 성분으로 사용 가능할 것으로 사료된다.

The fringe tree, Chionanthus retusus (Oleaceae) has been used as a natural remedy that helps a paralytic stroke, dementia, phlegm and malaria. This study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant and anti-aging activities of water extracts obtained from the flesh of C. retusus by reflux extraction at room temperature and 80℃, and pressure heating extraction at 110℃, for an increment of their practical use. The highest extraction yield from the flesh of C. retusus was 67.94% extract by pressure heating extraction at 110℃. The content of total polyphenol compounds was the highest by 72.71 mg/g in 80℃ extract by reflux extraction. The highest content of total flavonoid compounds was 7.60 mg/g at 110℃ extract. The results of soluble protein and reducing sugar contents showed the highest content of 4.93 mg/g and 46.77 mg/g in 110℃ extract, respectively. In the analysis of DPPH radical scavenging activity, all extracts showed an excellent effect of 92% in 1.0 mg/mL concentration. The highest effect of ABTS radical scavenging activity was 88.67% at 110℃ extraction in 1.0 mg/mL concentration. Nitrite scavenging ability was the highest as 66.16% at 110℃ extract at pH 1.2 and 1.0 mg/mL concentration. The results of SOD-like activity and xanthine oxidase inhibition activities showed the highest effect of 14.95% and 59.45% at 110℃ extract in 1.0 mg/mL, respectively. Tyrosinase inhibition activity for whitening effect was the highest of 35.31% at 85℃ in 1.0 mg/mL. In the analysis of anti-aging effect, collagenase and elastase inhibition activity showed the highest effects of 37.78% at 110℃ and 20.39% at 80℃, respectively. All results of antioxidant activities and anti-aging effects increased along with the concentration increases. These results indicated that the extracts extracted from the flesh of C. retusus at 80℃ and 110℃ have a large amount of useful ingredients, an excellent antioxidant activity, like as DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity, and anti-aging effects to develop functional products than those of 25℃.