With the object of examining the effects of horticultural therapy based on structural recall by developmental stage on cognitive, emotional, and hand functions of institutionalized elderly, this study executed a horticultural therapy program once a week and through a total of 14 sessions during the period from May 2 to December 5, 2013. The subjects of this study were 34 elders admitted to S Geriatric hospital for geriatric diseases, and they were divided into a control group and an experimental group. Because the program was designed for institutionalized elders who were able to do only indoor activities, it provided various seasonal horticultural activities that could be done even in a limited space by giving materials and subjects that could be recalled by developmental stage. The results of this study are as follows. As to changes in cognitive functions (MSQ) after the horticultural therapy program, the control group showed a decrease as having more negative ranks, and the experimental group showed an increase as having more positive ranks, but such changes in the control and experimental groups were not significant. As to changes in emotional functions after the horticultural therapy program, the control group showed a decrease but without significance in ego integrity as having more negative ranks, and the experimental group showed an increase with significance as having more positive ranks (P=0.020). As to the experimental group’s changes in the sub factors of ego integrity, positive ranks increased in all the sub-factors and the increase was particularly significant in satisfaction with present life (P=0.038). As to changes in life satisfaction, the control group showed increased positive ranks but without significance, and the experimental group showed significantly increased positive ranks (P=0.022). As to the experimental group’s changes in the sub-factors of life satisfaction, changes in denial of the past (P=0.029) and denial of the future (P=0.016) were particularly significant. As to changes in hand functions, both the control and experimental groups showed some improvement in pinch after the horticultural therapy program but the changes were not significant. Grip strength did not change in the control group, and in the experimental group right-hand grip strength was improved slightly more than left-hand one, the difference was not significant. The results of this study suggest that horticultural therapy based on structural recall by developmental stage is effective in improving institutionalized elders’ emotional functions and, consequently, can contribute to higher quality of life, which is the ultimate goal of elders.

Cereal seeds, sorghum, foxtail millet, hog millet, adlay, and corn are traditionally used as health assistant as well as energy supplying food in Korea. While beneficial phytochemicals to human have revealed in cereals, the information on peptides from cereals is far less accumulated than major reserve protein. Here, we analyzed peptide profiles using surface enhanced laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) in cereal seeds for construction of peptide information and attempted to develop peptide biomarkers for cereal identification. To optimize the analysis condition of SELDI-TOF MS, the effect of dilution factor on binding affinity to protein chips was tested using CM10 and Q10 arrays. Peptide clusters were significantly different at the level of 0.01 p-value. Peak spectra were the most stable in 1:50 of dilution factor in both chip arrays. Numbers of detected peak of 5 cereal seeds were 131 in CM10 and 74 in Q10 array. Each cereal was grouped as a cluster and well discriminated into different cluster in the level of 0.01 p-value. Numbers of potentially identified peptide biomarkers are 11, 13, 9, 5 and 12 in sorghum, foxtail millet, hog millet, adlay and corn, respectively. This study demonstrates that each cereal seed have own distinguishable specific peptides although their function are not identified yet in this study. In addition, the proteomic profiling using SELDI-TOF MS techniques could be a useful and powerful tool to discover peptide biomarker for discrimination and assess crop species, especially under 20 kDa.