Background: The current regulations regarding the storage of medicinal herbs do not define the storage temperature; instead, but the only requirement is that the plastic bags used for storing the medicinal herbs should be tightly sealed during storage. The practice of storing medicinal herbs at room temperature (28℃), causes many problems, including growth of insect pests on the stored medicinal herbs. Thus, it is necessary to understand the effect of insect pests on the quality of medicinal herbs stored at room temperature (28℃) for the improving the relevant regulations. Methods and Results: Cnidium rhizome and Angelica radix were infested with Lasioderma serricorne F. adults and incubated at 28℃ for 2.5 and 5 months. The population of L. serricorne was established rapidly, and left many holes, cadavers, and feces on the stored medicinal herbs, thereby greatly damaging the product appearance and hygiene. In addition, active ingredients of the medicinal herbs were significantly decreased, probably reducing their medicinal quality as well. Conclusions: These results indicate that the current regulations are not sufficient to prevent the establishment of storage insect pests and guarantee the quality and hygiene of stored medicinal herbs. Therefore, it is necessary to devise proper storage protocols and upgrade the current relevant regulations to maintain the quality of medicinal herbs during storage.

Background: Rehmannia glutinosa is a perennial herb belonging to the family Scrophulariaceae. Its roots have been utilized as a traditional medicine. The aim of this study was to elucidate the basic information of the roots of the R. glutinosa cultivars and their utilization. Methods and Results: The roots of R. glutinosa cultivars were harvested in the end of March. The two iridoid glycosides, aucubin and catalpol, were analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), whereas γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The aucubin content was the highest in the Dakang cultivar, whereas no aucubin was detected in the five cultivars. All cultivars had more than 12 ㎎/g catalpol content, and the maximum catalpol content was found in Jihwang 1. The GABA content was the highest in Suwon 1, and it was 40 times more than that in the Yeongang cultivar. Conclusions: The highest aucubin, catapol and GABA contents were detected in the Dakang, Jihwang 1, and Suwon 1, cultivars respectively. This study provides the crucial information regarding the versatile utilization and pedigree selection of R. glutinosa cultivars.

Background : The practice of keeping the medicinal herbs at room temperature causes many problems, but due to lack of sufficient field research and study, it is difficult to improve related regulations and safety management. Methods and Results : The Cnidium Rhizome and Angelica gigas Root were inoculated with Lasioderma serricorne F. and incubated at 28℃ for 2.5 months and 5 months. After five months, the number of Lasioderma serricorne F. in Cnidium Rhizome increased from 30 to 1,429 (about 47 times). In the same period, the number of insects in Angelica gigas Root increased from 30 to 663 (about 22 times). Due to the rapid increase in pest population, hygiene deteriorated, changes in the active ingredient and appearance quality of the herbal medicines, which greatly damaged the value of the herbal medicine. Conclusions : These results show that current regulation requiring only sealing and not specifying the storage temperature do not guarantee quality safety. Therefore, it is necessary to establish appropriate preservation standards and improve management regulations in order to preserve safety.

Background : This experiment was carried out to investigate the occurrence of disease and pest and the yield depending on cultivation methods in Cynanchum wilfordii. Methods and Results : There were damages by anthracnose, aphid, mite, thrips, Gastrophysa atrocyanea, Tropidothorax cruciger and Metcalfa pruinosa. In the case of anthracnose, the number of damaged leaf in the untreated control plot per counting area (67.5 ㎡) was 8.6 times higher than that of chemical treated plot. As a result of investigation of shoot damage and leaf juice damage by Tropidothorax cruciger, which made the most obvious damage symptom, showed the significantly lower degree of damage in the treatments of insecticides (abamectin, suloxac flour liquid wettable powder). In addition to the pest damage, the yield of roots was investigated. As a result, it was found that the yields were 3.8 ㎏, 2.6 ㎏, 1.7 ㎏ and 1.4 ㎏ per 8.5 ㎡ respectively in vine scheme cultivation with chemical control, vine scheme cultivation with non-chemical control, non-vine scheme cultivation with chemical control and non-vine scheme cultivation with non-chemical control. Conclusion : The yield per 1,000 ㎡ was 449 ㎏, which was 1.9 times higher than the national average of three years in vine scheme cultivation with chemical control.

Backgoound : This study was conducted to evaluate the quality variation of Ixeris dentata on the antioxidant contents and antioxidant activities according to the different producing area. Methods and Results : The samples were extracted with 70 % EtOH and then analyzed for total flavonoid contents, polypenol contents, DPPH radical scavenging activity, and ABTS radical scavenging activity. Luteinol 7-O-β-D-glucoside, an index component of the Ixeris dentata, was analyzed by HPLC. The leafs of Ixeris dentata in Jinan had the highest concentration of polyphenols (23.91 ㎎/g), followed by Jinbu (22.63 ㎎/g) and Eumseong (21.36 ㎎/g). Flavonoid content was highest in Jinan (15.27 ㎎/g), but there was no significant difference between Jinbu (14.05 ㎎/g) and Eumseong (13.99 ㎎/g). The contents of luteinol 7-O-β-D-glucoside were confirmed in Jinan (0.68%), Jinbu (0.49%) and Eumseong (0.36%), respectively. Conclusion : The comparison of antioxidant contents and antioxidant activities of Ixeris dentata according to the different producing area, Jinan was had the highest concentration, followed by Jinbu and Eumseong. Our results showed that the content of luteoline-7-D-glucoside varied among the different producing area.

Background : Rehmannia glutinosa is a perennial herb belonging to the family Scrophulariaceae. Its roots have been utilized as a traditional medicine but the aerial parts (flower, flower stalk, leaf) were not used. In this paper, we aimed to determine the content of three compounds [aucubin, catalpol, and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)] in different organs of R. glutinosa. Methods and Results : The flower, flower stalk, leaf, and root of R. glutinosa were harvested in the end of August. The aucubin and catalpol were analyzed by LC/MS, whereas GABA was analyzed by GC/MS. The aucubin content was the highest in the leaf, while catalpol and GABA were the highest in the flower. The aucubin content of in the leaf was 1.43, 0.81, and 1.07 ㎎/g, respectively. The catalpol content of flower in Dakang, Tokang, and Suwon 9 was 41.06, 28.78 and 37.48 ㎎/g, respectively. The GABA content of flower in Dakang, Tokang, and Suwon 9 were 0.79, 0.76 and 0.65 ㎎/g, respectively. Conclusions : The contents of aucubin, catalpol, and GABA were higher in leaf and flower than that of root. This study provides the important information of R. glutinosa leaf and flower as a potential supplement.

Backgoound : This study was conducted to serve as a basis for the selection of superior lines by analyzing the content of antioxidant component and antioxidant activity in Schisandra chinensis Collections Methods and Results : In order to examine antioxidant component and antioxidant activity, 154 species of Schisandra chinensis from whole country were used. Antioxidant component was investigated by total flavonoid content and total phenolic content and antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging activity and ABTS radical scavenging activity. As a result, the total amounts of flavonoids was highest in SC-20 with 5.03 ㎎/g. However the content of polyphenols showed highest in SC-22 with 2.76 ㎎/g. In addition antioxidant activity results were also relatively high in SC-22. The IC50 value was 548 ㎍/㎖ in DPPH radical scavenging and 640 ㎍/㎖. in ABTS+ radical scavenging. Conclusion : As demand for high income crop has increased, new cultivar breeding is required to produce high quality Schisandra chinensis From this study, analyses of antioxidant component and antioxidant activity in collection can be used for new Schisandra chinensis breeding. Especially SC-22 can be superior lines with high antioxidant component and antioxidant activity.

Background : Licorice has been used as a source of medicine and a food material in East-Asia. Recently, demand for licorice increased in market due to a growing interest in health. Thus we conducted breeding research to solve the problems associated with domestically cultivated licorice such as low productivity and low glycyrrhizin content. Methods and Results : We crossed European licorice (G. glabra L.; female parent) and Chinese licorice (G. uralensis Fisch; male parent) in the greenhouse in May 2007. In September 2007, crossed and germinated seeds were retrieved and sown in the greenhouse. In June 2008, stolons were separated from the F1 licorice seedlings and cultivated, resulting in 32 clonal lines of interspecific hybrids. Among them we selected good lines and then conducted the replicated yield trials (RYT) in 2012-2013 and local adaptability test (LAT) in 2014-2015. The results, GLYES9 showed that was elect of stem, oblong of leaf shape, red-brown of root color. Glycyrrhizin conten of GLYES9 (3.0%) was higher than G. uralensis (1.9%) at four regions from 2014 to 2015. GLYES9 was less than 10% in the desease of brown spot (G. uralensis was more than 30%). The root yield of GLYES9 was 4.31 ton per hectare, which was increased 193% compared with a check variety of G. uralensis. Therfore, we named GLYES9 as new cultivar ‘Dagam’. Conclusion : Depending on the above results, we have developed a new licorice cultivar ‘Dagam’ by the medicinal crop breeding team of National Institute of Horticulture and Herbal Science, RDA, in 2015. It showed brown spot disease resistant, high-glycyrrhizn content and high-yielding than colleted Glycyrrhiza spp.