쪽 두 품종, 나주재래종과 나람블루를 사용하여 높은 생엽수량 및 색소함량을 얻기 위한 적정한 이식시기와 수확시기를 알아보고자 수행한 재배시험 결과, 대체적으로 두 품종 모두 비슷한 경향을 나타냈다. 이식시기가 늦을수록 생엽수량은 감소하는 경향을 보였으며, 이식시기 시험구간 다소 차이가 있었지만 니람이나 색소함량은 유의한 차이를 보이지 않았다. 수확시기가 늦어질수록 초장, 분지수, 생엽수량은 증가하는 경향을 보였지만, 니람함량은 8월 20일까지증가하다가 이후 정체하거나 감소하는 경향을 보였다. 수확시기에 따른 인디고 함량 변화는 8월 5일에 가장 높은 함량을 보였고 이후 감소하는 경향을 보였다. 따라서 쪽 재배에서 높은 생엽수량과 색소함량을 얻기 위해서는 가능한 이르게 이식하는 것이 좋으며 8월 초순경에 수확하는 것이 유리한 것으로 판단되었다.

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the most important oilseed crops, having seeds and its edible oil that are highly valued as a traditional food. Many studies have examined the health value of sesame seeds and oil. Among the bioactive components in sesame seeds, lignans and tocopherols have been identified as the major antioxidants responsible for the resistant oxidative deterioration of sesame seeds and oil. These same antioxidants have been reported to have protective effects against human disease such as neurodegenerative disease. This review summarizes the chemical properties of lignans including lipid-soluble lignans, lignan glucosides and tocopherols, and their bioactivities such as antioxidativity and neuroprotection. We also review the biosynthesis of lignan in sesame seeds and transformation of lignans during food processing in sesame oil. Sesame seeds and its antioxidants may be a potent natural agent with both therapeutic applications and use in preventing human illness such as neurodegenerative disease.

Two Atractylodes species, A. japonica Koidz. ex Kitam. (AJ) and A. macrocephala Koidz (AM) were used in this study. AJ population had higher amounts of Sesquiterpenoids and stronger tolerance to root rot but less vigor of root growth than AM population. Two populations (AJ and AM) were crossed to make interspecific hybrid population. A total of 98 lines propagated clonally were selected from a cross of AJ and AM, and evaluated for contents of sesquiterpenoids, atractylon (ATLN) and atractylenolide III (AT3) using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and growth characters such as plant height, stem number and root weight. HPLC profiles of the hybrids were compared with those of parent plants, and it demonstrated the production of introgression hybrid by crossing between AJ and AM. Of 98 clonal lines,10 lines were selected by 10% level based on the growth vigor and tolerance to root rot, and AJM2102-51 line showed the heaviest root weight (117.1 g/plant) among them. A total of 98 hybrid lines contained on average 0.16 ± 0.10 mg/g of AT3, 2.00 ± 1.37 mg/g of ATLN, and 2.16 ± 1.40 mg/g of total sesquiterpenoids, showing high coefficients of variation (above 65%). Ten lines having high contents of sesquiterpenoids were selected, and AJM2101-15 had the highest amount (9.83 mg/g) of ATLN, and showed 40.8 g/plant of root weight similar to mean value (39.9 g/plant) of hybrid lines. The result showed that the introgression of both characters of vigorous growth from AM and high sesquiterpenoids content from AJ could be possible to make new hybrid lines by crossing between AJ and AM.

Sesamin and sesamolin, antioxidant lipidsoluble lignan compounds, are abundant in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) seed oil and provide oxidative stability of oil related to sesame quality. The sesamin and sesamolin contents of 403 sesame land races of Korea were determined by HPLC analysis of methanol extract (HPLC value), and their total lignan content was compared with those by using UV-Vis spectrophotometric analysis (UV method) of methanol (UV-MeOH value) and hexane (UV-Hexane value) extracts. HPLC values of total lignan content were strongly associated with UV-Hexane (r=0.705**) and UV-MeOH (r=0.811**) values. The UV values from both the extracts were 3.8-4.7 times higher than those of HPLC values. Lignan content was overestimated by UV method because total compounds in the mixture solution were quantified by absorbing at the same ultraviolet wavelength as in HPLC method. UV method could more rapidly analyze small amount of sample with higher sensitivity of detection than HPLC method. Average contents of lignans in sesame germplasm evaluated in this study were 2.09~pm1.02mg/g of sesamin, and 1.65~pm0.61mg/g of sesamolin, respectively, showing significant variation for lignan components. The results showed that UV method for the determination of sesamin and sesamolin could be practically used as a faster and easier method than HPLC by using the regression equations developed in this study

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) seeds contain abundant oil and antioxidative lignans related to the seed quality. To evaluate the potential effects of drought stress on the chemical composition of sesame seeds, eighteen cultivars were imposed water-deficit condition by withholding irrigation during 15 days at podding and maturing stage, compared with well-watered plants as control in seed yield and chemical composition. Drought treatments showed great decrease of seed yield with not affecting seed weight. The contents of sesamin and sesamolin decreased while lignan glycosides inversely increased in response to drought stress. Oil content was not significantly changed by drought treatment in spite of its slight decrease. In case of fatty acid composition, there were significant differences in increase of oleic acid while inverse decrease of linoleic acid under drought stress condition. These results demonstrate that the chemical composition of sesame seed may be modified with drought stress. In particular, the increase of sesaminol glucosides with strong antioxidative activity was observed.

Volatile flavor compounds from perilla leaves were extracted and analyzed with different methods, head-space analysis (HS), simultaneous steam distillation and extraction (SDE) , and solvent extraction (SE), and to compare their efficiencies for quick analysis. Over 30 volatile compounds were isolated and 28 compounds were identified by GC/MSD. Major compound was perillaketone showing the compositions of which were 92% in SDE method, 86% in headspace analysis, and 62% in solvent extraction method. For quick evaluation of leaf flavor in perilla, it was desirable because the headspace analysis method had a shorter analyzing time and smaller sample amount than the other methods.

The sesaminol glucosides in 80% EtOH extract from sesame seeds were separated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A HPLC system using a Develosil ODS-5 column and gradient elution system from 30% to 80% methanol was selected for separation and quantitative determination of sesaminol triglucoside, sesaminol diglucoside, and sesaminol monoglucoside. Quantitative analyses for these sesaminol glucosides, sesaminol triglucoside, sesaminol diglucoside, and sesaminol monoglucoside were determined on the basis of standard curve of sesaminol glucosides. Sesaminol triglucoside, sesaminol diglucoside and sesaminol monoglucoside contents of the seed of one Korean sesame cultivar, Danbaekggae, were 56.4 mg/100g, 9.6 mg/100g, and 7.5 mg/100g, respectively. The most abundant aglycon of lignan glucosides in sesame seed was sesaminol triglucoside