Oxidative DNA damage negatively affects humans and the research is currently ongoing to find ways to reduce oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been identified as a key factor in triggering various diseases. Thus, its alleviation is important for human health. Broussonetia kazinoki (B. kazinoki) has been used in traditional Korean medicine as a dermatological therapy to treat burns, pruritus, and acne. B. kazinoki is generally segregated into peeled root (PR), root bark (RB), peeled stem (PS), and stem bark (SB). To assess these components for their antioxidant activity and protection against DNA damage, their ethyl acetate fractions were examined by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical scavenging assay. As a result of confirming the expression of factors involved in attenuating DNA damage, the protective effect of SB on oxidative stress suppressed the expression of p-p53 and γ-H2AX. Additionally, the levels of p53 and H2AX mRNA were significantly downregulated. In conclusion, these results indicated that the SB component of B. kazinoki had the potential to be used as an effective natural antioxidant compared to the other parts of the plant.

In this study, we evaluated the whitening activity of prethanol A and water extracts from Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai. The extracts were prepared using 0, 50, 70, and 100% prethanol A at 121℃, 1.2 atm for 15 minutes. To confirm effective extraction, the acteoside content of each extract was analyzed with the HPLC-PDA method. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH and ABTS scavenging activity assays, and the whitening activity was evaluated based on inhibitory activities on the protein and mRNA expression of tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TRP-1), tyrosinase-related protein 2 (TRP-2), and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) in B16 F10 cells. Each extract showed strong antioxidant and whitening activity. IC50 values of antioxidant activity from each extract were in order of 100%, 70%, 50%, and 0%. In addition, whitening activity inhibited the protein and mRNA expression of melanin synthesis factor, following the same pattern as antioxidant activity. In conclusion, water and prethanol A extracts of A. distichum showed effective antioxidant and whitening activity and are thus considered to be valuable materials for whitening cosmetics. The results of this study will also provide basic data for the safe and efficient production of A. distichum as a cosmetic material.

A new soybean variety, ‘Joongmo 3009’ (Milyang 222) was developed at the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS) in 2012. ‘Joongmo 3009’ was released by pedigree selection from the cross between ‘Cheongja 2(Milyang 121)’ and ‘Daemangkong’. It has determinate growth habit, white flower, brown pubescence, brown pod color, green seed coat, green cotyledon, spherical seed shape, oval leaf shape and large seed size (29.3 grams per 100 seeds). It was late 16 days in maturing date than the check cultivar ‘Cheongjakong’. The average yield of ‘Joongmo 3009’ was 2.91 ton per hectare, which was higher 36 percentage than the check variety, in the regional yield trials carried out in three adaptable locations of Korea from 2010 to 2012. The number of breeder’s right is ‘5474’

Soybean is desirable as a forage crop because of it has high protein and oil concentration. Wild soybean, a progenitor of cultivated soybean, has a softer stem and higher protein content in seed than cultivated soybean. There is little information on yield and forage quality for wild soybean and its derivatives. The objective of this study was to determine the forage yield and quality of wild soybeans and selected soybeans derived from a cross G. max ×G. soja. Forage yield and quality were assessed for three grain soybean cultivars, three wild soybeans and three selected lines from G. max×G. soja. Forage quality attributes such as crude protein (CP), crude fat (CF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), digestible dry matter (DDM), dry matter intake (DMI) and relative feed value (RFV) were determined at the R2, R4 and R6 developmental stages. Forage yield and CF were highest at stage R6 in G. max, G. soja and selected G. max×G. soja lines. CP content was similar between R2 and R4 but increased sharply after R4 and peaked at R6 in G. max and selected lines from G. soja×G. max. On the other hand, CP content was similar between R4 and R6 stage in wild soybeans. Generally, NDF and ADF were highest at stage R4 but decreased at stage R6. DDM, DMI, and RFV increased between R4 and R6. These results suggest that R6 was the optimal harvest stage to provide forage of highest quality and yield. A study was conducted in 2011 to evaluate forage yield and quality at stage R6 in 25 lines from PI483463 (G. soja)×Hutcheson (G. max) and four cultivated grain soybeans. Hutcheson had the highest forage yield with 24.7t/ha infresh weight (FW) among grain soybeans. Line W11 had the highest forage yield(25.7t/ha,FW) among G. soja×G. max selections and four other lines had similar forage yield compared to Hutcheson. Generally the 25 lines from this G. max×G. soja cross had thinner main stems and branches than cultivated soybeans. When the 25 lines were evaluated for their feed quality as per forage grade by AFGC, nine lines rated prime grade and all 25 lines were classified as forage Grade 1. Results of this study indicate crosses between wild and cultivated soybean show promise for improving soybean as a forage crop.