Background : Ginseng seeds are one of short-lived seeds species which loose their viability easily in the condition of conventional storage. Cryopreservation using liquid nitrogen (LN) has been recommended as a alternative storage for this kind of germplasm short lived or dessiccation-sensitive. This study was performed to find out whether cryopreservation could assure initial viability not only for seeds with high germination rate but also for seeds with low germination rate (in aging process). Methods and Results : In this work, 3 cultivars of dehisced ginseng seeds were artificial aged in the condition of 40℃, 95% RH during 6 hours with 3 hours-interval. The germination rate of ginseng seeds was decreased to the range of 71 - 94% of initial viability by artificial aging treatment. After 24 hours of vapor-LN exposure on both of artificial aged and non treated seeds as a cryopreservation, germination rate for each cultivar was decreased with the range of 76 - 95% of initial viability. While the decreasing patterns of germination rate for each cultivar showed similar curves between before and after vapor-LN exposure, the aging effects could be slightly little by cryopreservation for 3 cultivars of ginseng seeds. Conclusion : From the above results, we may suggest that cryopreservation could be recommened for storage tool of dehisced ginseng seeds even with low viability also and expected to make slower seed aging process during preservation period through further study.

Background: To obtain useful safflower resources for breeding and research of functional materials, the present study was conducted to determine fatty acid compositions and antioxidant activities of 281 safflower accessions collected from East Asia including South Korea. Methods and Results: Lipid contents and fatty acids compositions were evaluated using soxhlet extraction and gas chromatography, respectively. A antioxidant activities were analyzed using a spectrophotometer. The evaluation range of safflower accessions showed very wide variation. In terms of lipid contents, the China accessions were higher than the collection from other regions, whereas antioxidant activities did not differ among regions. The result of the principal component analysis showed that the first and second principal component cumulatively explained 90.6% of the total variation. In clustering the safflower accessions, the tree showed four major clades. Group II (16 accessions) was high in lipid content, oleic acid and linoleic acid, whereas group III (50 accessions) exhibited higher antioxidant activities than other groups. Conclusions: It was recommended that the China collections be utilized as a useful resource for research on functional oil materials. These results provided valuable information for safflower breeders and researchers of functional food.

Identification of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. raphani and investigation on fusarium wilt development by isolates and inoculation methods were conducted to establish a screening method for fusarium wilt-resistance in radish (Raphanus sativus L.) germplasm. Pathogenicity of F. oxysporum f. sp. raphani isolate, Heonggye-1 and Heonggye-2, to radish plants was confirmed by seedling test. Radish seedlings were inoculated by root-dipping and soil-drenching with or without root-wounding. For Heonggye-1 isolate, mean disease indexes were 4.13 and 3.91 by root-dipping and soil-drenching with root-wounding, respectively, but those were 1.87 and 1.88 without root-wounding. For Heonggye-2 isolate, mean disease indexes were 3.83 to 4.37 regardless of inoculation methods. Two-hundred sixty accessions of radish germplasm collected from 9 countries of Asia and Europe were evaluated for fusarium wilt-resistance by soil-drenching with root-wounding with Heonggye-2 isolate. Fifty-four resistant accessions with higher than 70% of the percentage of resistant seedlings in accession (PR) and lower than 20% of the percentage of susceptible seedlings in accession (PS) was found. Eighteen susceptible accessions with lower than 20% of PR and higher than 50% of PS were selected. These accessions could be used as breeding and research materials after re-evaluation of disease-resistance and characterization of agronomical traits.

Background : To select plant resources of the possibility of development as a natural antioxidant, the antioxidant activities including total polyphenol content (TPC), 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazil (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and reducing power (RP) of perilla accessions collected from South Korea were conducted. Method and Results : A total of 18 perilla accessions by regions were selected. Two grams of dried perilla leaves were extracted with 85% ethanol and used for analysis of antioxidant activity. Antioxidant activity value was measured in a spectrophotometer. Perilla extracts showed variation in TPC ranging from 30.87 to 92.66 ㎍ GAE ㎎-1 dw. ABTS, DPPH, FRAP and RP ranged from 6.83 to 38.64 ㎍ Trolox ㎎-1 dw, 0.63 to 8.62 ㎍ ASC ㎎-1 dw, 5.05 to 17.57 ㎍ ASC ㎎-1 dw, and 4.52 to 35.69 ㎍ ASC ㎎-1 dw, respectively. TPC was high in perilla leaves of Gyeongsang-do, but other antioxidant activities were high in perilla leaves of Chungcheong-do. Cluster analysis based on antioxidant acitivities of 18 perilla accessions consist of group Ⅰ (3 accessions), Ⅱ (2 accessions), Ⅲ (5 accessions) and Ⅳ (8 accessions). Group Ⅱ characterized as higher antioxidant activities than other groups. Principal component analysis (PCA) based on antioxidant data revealed that the first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) together explained 97.78 % total variation. Conclusion : IT242410 and IT235354 of group Ⅱ showed high antioxidant activity. These resources will be useful for developing natural antioxidants.