To develop farm-made high effective vinegar, this study prepared apple vinegar using four kinds of acetic acid bacteria isolated from a natural fermentation liquid of ‘Cheongsoo’ grapes and analyzed vinegar samples fermented 93% apple juice and 7% alcohols at 30℃ for 20 days. To accomplish this, quality characteristics such as pH, total acidity, reducing sugar, organic acid, color, total polyphenol contents, and antioxidant activity contents were determined. The pH decreased while total acidity of all samples gradually increased during fermentation period. The vinegar with AP 21 strain tended to increase the total acidity quicker than other stains. Reduced sugar content remained high until the last fermentation day. Furthermore, reduced sugar contents of all vinegars increased as fermentation progressed by decomposing sucrose present in apples. When physiological activities were compared, apple vinegars fermented with AP 21 and 30 strains had higher total polyphenol and flavonoid contents than other samples. However, there was no significant difference in antioxidant activity between samples. These results indicate that strain 21 is the most suitable starter as acetic acid bacteria for producing farm-made vinegar.

This study examined the quality characteristics of 10 different lines of native peppers collected from organic farms in Chungbuk province. The study found a strong correlation between the redness (a*) and ASTA values, which both contribute to the perceived quality of peppers. The highest values were observed in the Iyugsa line. The content of capsaicinoid and beta-carotene also showed a positive correlation, with Chilsungcho having the highest statistically significant value. While the total polyphenol content did not correlate with the other indicators, Chilsungcho again had the highest levels. The Yuwolcho line exhibited the highest ABTS radical scavenging ability, while the Eumseongcho line showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging ability. Taking into account the overall bioactivity quality, Chilsungcho had the highest values in terms of total polyphenol, beta-carotene, capsaicinoid, and redness. It also had the second highest total flavonoid content, ABTS, and DPPH radical scavenging activity, all statistically significant. Therefore, Chilsungcho can be considered an excellent choice when considering physiological activity. Furthermore, this study provides valuable information about the unique characteristics of these 10 native pepper lines, which can assist in selecting the appropriate pepper for food manufacturing and serve as a helpful resource for future research.

This study investigated the quality characteristics of beyolmijang prepared with corn (steamed and roasted corn) with different pretreatments and simultaneously added starter (Bacillus velezensis JH1). pH decreased, whereas total acidity showed a tendency to increase. The moisture content decreased slightly according to the fermentation period. In color, the L and b values decreased in all samples, whereas the a value showed a tendency to increase significantly. In microorganisms, sample D had more lactic acid bacteria, whereas the mold content was lower. The total polyphenol content was highest at six weeks in sample E, and other samples showed a tendency to decrease over eight weeks. Antioxidant activity increased significantly. In particular, the content in sample E was significantly higher. Reducing sugar showed a tendency to increase as the fermentation period increased. The highest content was found in sample C containing roasted corn at six weeks of fermentation. Amino nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen content increased in all samples. As a result of electronic tongue, sample E prepared with steamed corn, roasted corn, and lactic acid bacteria showed a low salty taste, sour taste, and high umami taste and was considered a good material for the development of byeolmijang.

In recent years, macroalgal bloom occurs frequently in coastal oceans worldwide. It might be attributed to accelerating climate change. “Green tide” events caused by proliferation of green macroalgae (Ulva spp.) not only damage the local economy, but also harm coastal environments. These nuisance events have become common across several coastal regions of continents. In Korea, green tide incidences are readily seen throughout the year along the coastlines of Jeju Island, particularly the northeastern coast, since the 2000s. Ulva species are notorious to be difficult for morphology-based species identification due to their high degrees of phenotypic plasticity. In this study, to investigate temporal variation in Ulva community structure on Jeju Island between 2015 and 2020, chloroplast barcode tuf A gene was sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed for 152 specimens from 24 sites. We found that Ulva ohnoi and Ulva pertusa known to be originated from subtropical regions were the most predominant all year round, suggesting that these two species contributed the most to local green tides in this region. While U. pertusa was relatively stable in frequency during 2015 to 2020, U. ohnoi increased 16% in frequency in 2020 (36.84%), which might be associated with rising sea surface temperature from which U. ohnoi could benefit. Two species (Ulva flexuosa, Ulva procera) of origins of Europe should be continuously monitored. The findings of this study provide valuable information and molecular genetic data of genus Ulva occurring in southern coasts of Korea, which will help mitigate negative influences of green tide events on Korea coast.

A total of 51 vegetables and fruits, commonly consumed agriculture products in Korea, were analyzed for their α-carotene, β- carotene, and β-cryptoxanthin contents as provitamin A. The beta-carotene content (μg/100 g) was high in a few green leaf vegetables such as coriander (5,924.07), gegeol radish leaf (5.855.72), and curried mallow (5,138.01), while α-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin contents were not detected. The β-carotene in 8 kinds of 20 general vegetables was detected in the range of 214.06~1,437.67 μg/100 g, while α-carotene was detected at 460.17 μg/100 g in only old pumpkin. The β-cryptoxanthin was detected in the range of 106.55~315.49 μg/100 g in Japanese elm, watermelon, white cucumber, and lettuce. However, carotenoids were not detected in 10 kinds of agricultural products including oriental melon, potato, etc. In fruits, the beta-carotene contents ranged from 165.72~3,997.39 μg/100 g, showing maximum value in apple mango and minimum value in persimmon. The β-cryptoxanthin was detected at 232.22 μg/100 g in only passion fruit, while the α-carotene was detected at 77.25 μg/100 g in only darae. Thus, based on the analyzed results of carotenoids of agriculture products consumed or cultivated in Korea, and it was found that green leaf vegetables comprise high beta-carotene overall.

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality characteristics of cookies made with Angelica gigas Nakai fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei. As the content of Angelica gigas Nakai fermented by L. paracasei (AFL) powder increased, the pH of the cookies decreased from 6.3 to 5.2. There was no significant difference in the moisture content depending on AFL powder content. The content of reducing sugar also increased with increasing AFL powder content. Regarding the surface color of the cookies, the L- and b-values decreased with increasing AFL powder content, whereas the a-value increased. As the AFL powder content increased, the total polyphenol content and ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities significantly increased. Cookies with 8% AFL powder (AC8) had the highest levels of 107.16 mg%, 38.69%, and 65.56%, respectively. The texture, adhesiveness, and cohesiveness of the cookies with various AFL powder levels were not significantly different, and hardness, springiness, gumminess, and chewiness showed no tendencies toward changes. Taken together, these results showed that when AFL powder was added to cookies, bioactivities such as antioxidant activity increased, making AFL powder a good material with high potential for use in commercially baked products.

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality characteristics of byeolmijang prepared several roasted whole grain powders (oat, brown rice, black soybean, corn) for eight weeks. As the fermentation progressed, the pH decreased from 6.10~6.12 to 4.48~4.92 and the total acidity increased dramatically from 0.41~0.48% to 1.67~2.24%. There were no differences in the moisture content. The content of reducing sugar decreased, in particular, brown rice sample(C) decreased significantly than the other samples during fermentation. In color, L and b-value decreased all samples, whereas a-value showed a tendency to slightly increase. The total cell counts and lactic acid bacteria revealed an increasing tendency during fermentation. In case of the amino-type nitrogen contents, it increased significantly during the fermentation period, especially control sample (A) showed the highest content significantly. The total polyphenol of all samples increased in the fermentation period. ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities also increased, especially corn sample (E) had the highest levels. In by electronic tongue analysis, corn sample (E) revealed higher umami and sourness than the control. So, by adding roasted corn powder, it can enhance function and taste of byeolmijang.

To date, there are no protocols optimized to the effective separation of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) from testicular cells derived from mouse testes, thus hindering studies based on mouse SSCs. In this study, we aimed to determine the most efficient purification method for the isolation of SSCs from mouse testes among previously described techniques. Isolation of SSCs from testicular cells derived from mouse testes was conducted using four different techniques: differential plating (DP), magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) post-DP, MACS, and positive and negative selection double MACS. DP was performed for 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 h, and MACS was performed using EpCAM (MACSEpCAM), Thy1 (MACSThy1), or GFR α1 (MACSGFRα1) antibodies. The purification efficiency of each method was analyzed by measuring the percentage of cells that stained positively for alkaline phosphatase. DP for 8 h, MACSThy1 post-DP for 8 h, MACSGFRα1, positive selection double MACSGFRα1/EpCAM, and negative selection double MACSGFRα1/α-SMA were identified as the optimal protocols for isolation of SSCs from mouse testicular cells. Comparison of the purification efficiencies of the optimized isolation protocols showed that, numerically, the highest purification efficiency was obtained using MACSGFRα1. Overall, our results indicate that MACSGFRα1 is an appropriate purification technique for the isolation of SSCs from mouse testicular cells.

Microenvironments surrounded with various extracellular matrix (ECM) components can decide specifically the fate of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) and integrin heterodimers recognizing directly ECM proteins play an important role in transporting ECM-derived signals into cytoplasm, resulting in inducing a variety of biological functions such as cell attachment, self-renewal and differentiation. However, to date, studies on type of integrin heterodimers expressed functionally on the undifferentiated SSCs derived from mouse with hybrid strain remain unclear. Therefore, we tried to investigate systematically what kind of integrin heterodimers are expressed transcriptionally, translationally and functionally in the SSCs derived from testis of hybrid (B6CBAF1) mouse. For these, magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) using Thy1 antibody was used for isolating SSCs from testis, and real-time PCR or fluorescence immunoassay was conducted for measuring transcriptional or translational level of integrin α and β subunits in the isolated SSCs. Subsequently, antibody inhibition assay was conducted for confirming functionality of presumed integrin heterodimers. As the results, transcriptional levels of genes encoding total 25 integrin subunits were quantified, 7 integrin α (α4, α6, α7, α9, αV, αL and αE) and 2 integrin β (β1 and β5) subunit genes showed significantly increased transcriptional up-regulation, compared to the other integrin subunit genes. In contrast, integrin α3, α5, α10 and α11, and integrin β2, β3, β4 and β7 were weakly transcribed. When translational levels of the integrin α subunits showing high transcription level (α4, α6, α7, α9, αV, αL and αE) were measured, significantly strong translational up-regulation of integrin α6, α7, α9, αV and αL subunit genes were detected, whereas integrin α4 and αE subunit genes were weakly. In case of integrin β subunit, β1 evaluated more expression than β5. Based on these results, we speculated that the undifferentiated SSCs derived from B6CBAF1 mouse might express integrin α4β 1, α6β1, α7β1, α9β1, αVβ1 or αVβ5 on plasma membrane. Subsequently, the hybrid strain SSCs showed significantly increased adhesion to fibronectin, laminin, tenascine-C and vitronectin and functional blocking of integrin α4β1, α6β1, α9β1, and αVβ1 or αVβ5 in SSCs significantly inhibited attachment to fibronectin, laminin, tenascin-C and vitronectin, respectively. Accordingly, we could identify that the hybrid (B6CBAF1) mouse-derived SSCs had integrin α4β1, α6β1, α9β1, αVβ1 or αVβ5 on plasma membrane. Moreover, this information will greatly contribute to constructing non-cellular niche supporting self-renewal of SSCs in the future.

Generally, fate of spematogonial stem cells (SSCs) can be determined specifically by microenvironments enclosed with various extracellular matrix (ECM) components and integrins recognizing directly ECM proteins play an pivotal role in transporting ECM-derived signals into cytoplasm, resulting in inducing a variety of biological functions such as cell attachment, self-renewal and differentiation. However, to date, studies on type of integrins expressed on the undifferentiated SSCs remain unclear. Therefore, we tried to investigate systematically what kind of integrin subunits are expressed transcriptionally or translationally in the SSCs derived from testis of hybrid B6CBAF1 mouse. For these, isolation of SSCs from testis were conducted by magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) using Thy1 antibody. Subsequently, transcriptional and translational level of integrin α and β subunits in the isolated SSCs were measured by real-time PCR and fluorescene immunoassay, respectively. As the results, transcriptional levels of genes encoding total 25 integrin subunits were quantified, and integrin α4, α6, α7, α9, αV, αL and αE and integrin β1, β5 showed higher expression levels than other subunits. By contrast, integrin α3, α5, α 10 and α11 and integrin β2, β3, β4, β7 were weakly transcribed. When translational levels of the integrin α subunits showing high transcription level (α4, α6, α7, α9, αV αL, and αE) were measured, integrin α6, α7, α9, αV and αL were higher than integrin α4 and αE. In case of integrin β subunit, β1 evaluated more expression than β5. From these results, we speculate that the undifferentiated SSCs derived from hybrid B6CBAF1 mouse may express integrin α4β1, α6β1, α7β1, α9β1, αVβ1 and/or αVβ5 on plasma membrane. Moreover, this information will greatly contribute to constructing non-cellular niche supporting self-renewal of SSCs in the future.

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) developed into sperms through spermatogenesis have been utilized as a useful tool in the field of regenerative medicine and infertility. However, a small number of highly qualified SSCs are resided in the seminiferous tubule of testis, resulted in developing effective in-vitro culture system of SSCs for solving simultaneously quantitative and qualitative problems. Presently, SSCs can be enriched on testicular stromal cells (TSCs), but there are no systematic researches about TSC culture. Therefore, we tried to optimize culture condition of TSCs derived from mouse with different strains. For these, proliferation and viability were measured and compared by culturing ICR outbred or DBA/2 inbred mouse-derived TSCs at 35 or 37℃. In case of ICR strain, primary TSCs cultured at 37℃ showed significantly higher proliferation and viability than those at 35℃ and significant increase of proliferation and viability in sub-passaged TSCs was detected in the 35℃ culture condition. Moreover, sub-passage of primary TSCs at 35℃ induced no significant effects on proliferation and viability. In contrast, in case of DBA/2 strain, significantly improved proliferation were detected in the primary TSCs cultured at 35℃, which showed no significant difference in the viability, compared to those at 37℃. Furthermore, sub-passaged TSCs cultured at 37℃ showed no significant differences in proliferation and viability, compared to those at 35℃. However, with significant decrease of proliferation induced by sub-passage of primary TSCs at 35℃, no significant effects on proliferation and viability were resulted from sub-passage of primary TSCs at 37℃. From these results, culture temperature of primary TSCs derived from outbred and inbred strain of mouse could be separately optimized in primary culture and subculture.

To evaluate the antioxidant and potential of Humulus japonicus, total polyphenol and flavonoid content, radical scavenging activities, and antitumor activities were measured. The total polyphenol and flavonoid contents of the methanol extracts from Humulus japonicus were 30.13±1.13 and 13.61±0.49 ㎎ gallic acid equivalent/g extract, respectively. DPPH radical and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities of methanol extracts of Humulus japonicus were 60% and 35%, respectively. The Humulus japonicus higher activities of anticancer activities on liver cancer cell lines compared to other cancer cell lines.

The purpose of this study is to provide useful information which will aid in the promotion of nutritional policy in the Korean rural area which are derived from a survey of intake and source of protein in some Korean rural adults and the correlations between their protein nutrition and various nutrients, the uses of tobacco, alcohol, coffee, etc. The survey was conducted from July, 24 through July, 28, 1989. The healthy subjects were 45 males (average age 42.3, average BMI 22.1㎏/㎡ ) and 55 females (44 years, 21.2㎏/㎡) residing in Sungjoo Kyun, Chulanam-Do, Korea. The subjects were examined for the anthropometric, food intake and food habits. Their daily diets were measured by 24-hr recall method. The results can be summarized as follows The daily mean protein intakes of male and female subjects were 95% of RDA(66.5g)( 16.7% of total food intake per day) and 102.3% of RDA(61g) (14.8% of total intake per day) respectively. The order of sources of animal protein in all subjects was fish(47.9%), meat(29.8%), milk (12%), and egg(10.3%). Among protein sources the intake frequencies of fork and chicken were higher than those of others. The protein nutrition of the subjects showed positive correlations with energy and fat, carbohydrate, fiber at the level of significance of 1%. The protein nutrition of the male subjects showed no correlation with age, BMI, uses of alcohol, coffee, medicine, but the plant protein nutrition showed a positive correlation with smoking and exercies(at 5%). And the protein nutrition of the male subjects showed no correlations with uses of tobacco, alcohol, coffee, medicine and their opinion of their present state of their health, but the age of the male subjects showed negative correlations with milk(at 1%) and egg(at 5%). In conclusion, the daily protein intake was good and the main sources of animal protein were fishes in rural adults. The protein nutrition of the subjects showed a correlation with energy, fat, carbohydrate and in the case of female, milk and egg intakes showed the negative correlation with age.