EP was obtained through 20% ethanol extraction of Pueraria lobata root, and the fermented form of EP, FEP, was prepared from the EP after incubating with Lactobacillus rhamnosus vitaP1. There was no significant toxicity by EP and FEP up to 1000 ㎍/㎖ in NIH-3T3, HaCaT, and B16F10 cells. In addition to antioxidant potentials of EP and FEP determined by DPPH and ABST assays, we confirmed increase of procollagen type I and elastin synthesis by supplementation of the EP and FEP at the concentration of 50 ㎍/㎖ using ELISA kits. The protein expression levels of matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-1, -3, and -9, those are involved in the degradation of collagen or other skin matrix proteins, were remarkably suppressed while their inhibitory protein metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 (TIMP-1) was greatly up-regulated by supplementation of the EP and FEP at a concentration of 50 ㎍/㎖. Taken together, both EP and FEP supplementation could be involved in the suppression of the skin wrinkle formation through inhibiting degradation of collagen and stimulating the synthesis of collagen and elastin. The results showed that the anti-wrinkle potential of the EP and FEP will be a promising candidate for developing cosmeceutical compounds or products.

Saururus chinensis is used as a raw material of an anti-rheumatic, poultice, sedative and stomachic. The tea of dried Saururus chinensis leaves has a function of relaxing pains in back and breast and of treating stomach ailments. The plant has the functions of anti-inflammatory, depurative, diuretic, febrifuge and refrigerant. The extraction of functional material is carried out by methanol and ethanol solvents. Mechanochemical grinding is applied as a pretreatment process before extraction to enhance the extraction efficiency by increasing the surface area of the materials while changing the chemical properties of the materials. Extraction of functional materials from the Saururus chinensis after grinding as a pretreatment using the mechanochemical technology was accomplished in this study to investigate the effect of grinding on the antioxidant activities of the extract. Saururus chinensis was ground by the planetary ball mill and the morphology was analyzed by SEM. Mechanochemical pretreatment increased the yields of functional materials from 5.9 g to 6.4, 7.0, and 8.1 g after grinding of 30 minutes, 1 hour and 2 hours, respectively. Nitrite scavenging ability increased from 53.0-71.0% to 61.0-79.0% for the methanol extraction in the solution of pH 1.2. Also, Electron donating abilities were increased from 7.90-33.51% to 11.97-38.51% for the methanol extraction. The extract concentration for the half inhibition of DPPH radicals was reduced from 278μg/mL in the original sample to 263μg/mL in the sample after grinding for the methanol extraction.