Gastrodia elata has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating headaches, dizziness, and convulsive illness for centuries. G. elata has traditionally been processed by steaming or blanching to increase the content and quality of its main ingredients. This study aimed to identify changes in physicochemical properties and active ingredients of G. elata depending on the steaming time. Data of this study could be used to develop traditional medicine and health foods. No steaming was used as a control. Steaming time was 5, 10, 20, 30, 60, or 120 min. The drying yield according to the steaming time ranged from 20.2% to 22.9%, with the lowest drying yield at 120 min. As the steaming time increased, gastrodin content increased more than that in fresh G. elata due to inhibition of β-glucosidase enzyme activity, 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol condensation, and parishin decomposition. Steamed G. elata did not show higher total polyphenols, total flavonoids, or ABTS radical scavenging activities than fresh G. elata even with an increase of steaming time. The steaming time to improve the quality of G. elata may varied depending on the size of G. elata. Thus, it is important to set the steaming time taking these characteristics into consideration.

Although aronia (Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliott) contains higher levels of polyphenols and more antioxidant activity than other berries, it is a berry that is difficult to eat raw due to its strong astringent taste and lack of sweetness. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of tannin reduction of aronia by bioconversion method using mushroom mycelia cultures. Aronia and liquid cultures of Lentinula edodes and Phellinus linteus mycelia were mixed and then treated for 48 hours at 60°C. Tannin content, total polyphenol, total flavonoid and antioxidant activities (DPPH, ABTS radical-scavenging activities and FRAP activities) were investigated. The tannin content decreased from 64.2 mg ECE/g to 57.9 mg ECE/g (9.8% reduction) when treated with liquid culture of L. edodes and from 77.3 mg ECE/g to 47.9 mg ECE/g (38.1% reduction) from treatment with a liquid culture of P. linteus. Therefore treatment with mushroom mycelia culture solution may improve the palatability of aronia reducing the astringent taste.

This study investigated the quality characteristics of black soybean sediments to diversify the availability of soybean. The cooking method selected for black soybean sediment preparation was a pressure cooking process without soaking, considering the isoflavone content. The black soybean sediments were prepared by the addition of 0, 10, 30, 50 and 100% (w/w) black soybean. When 0% to 100% black soybean was added to the black soybean sediments, the moisture and crude protein contents increased from 53.17% to 54.41% and from 12.07% to 21.68%, respectively. The total isoflavone content of the black soybean sediments was increased from 2.69 μg/g to 696.09 μg/g, respectively, by the addition of black soybean. The anthocyanin content of the black soybean sediments ranged from 279.29 μg/g to 387.8 μg/g by the addition of black soybean. The total polyphenol content and the total flavonoid content of the black soybean sediments range from 1.72 mg/g to 2.00 mg/g and 0.89 mg/g to 0.92 mg/g, respectively, by the addition of black soybean. Given the isoflavones, total polyphenol, and anthocyanin content of the black soybean sediments, it is appropriate that the ratio of added black soybeans is at least 50% after the pressure-cooking process, regardless of soaking.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality characteristics and antioxidant activity by collecting four times on six samples of Jeonbuk regional soybean pastes (Doenjang) traditionally prepared for this study. The water content of samples decreased according to progress of the aging period and the water content of the fourth sample collected was 42.40~59.64% (p<0.05). The salinity of the fourth Doenjang samples was 11.80~18.60%. The amino-type nitrogen content was 122.67~540.33 mg% immediately after the preparation of Doenjang in the Jeonbuk region and the content of the fourth collection samples increased from 251.49 to 982.36 mg% (p<0.05). The isoflavone glycosides decreased but daidzein, genistein and glycitein, which are aglycones, increased during aging periods. The total polyphenol content of the fourth collected samples was 11.99~19.27 mg GAE/g (p<0.05). The DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS radical scavenging activity and FARP of the fourth Doenjang samples were 51.88~81.21%, 84.14~90.32%, and 1.08~3.11 mg Trolox/g, respectively. As a result of quality analysis on Doenjang, the superiority of traditional Doenjang has been proven by the increase of amino nitrogen content and antioxidant activity according to the aging period. However, factor analysis on quality differences of regional Doenjang should be conducted to ensure standardization and quality improvement.

Gastrodia elata Blume often has been used for the treatment of headaches, convulsions, hypertension, and neurodegenerative diseases. The main active constituents are gastrodin, 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, vanillyl alcohol, 4-hydroxybenzylaldehyde and parishin A, B, C and E. Because Gastrodia elata has also unacceptable off-odor (swine barnyard-like) for food, there is a need to reduce it as well as allow for greater utilization as a functional food materials. In this study, a major off-odor producing substance of Gastrodia elata was fractionated by steam distillation and silica gel column chromatography. The substance was identified as p-cresol(4-methyl phenol) by GC-MS analysis and comparison of the retention time with that of an authentic compound in GC. The content of p-cresol in fermented Gastrodia elata was decreased. A fermented sample of Latobacillus sakei for 2 days was reduced to 54.7%, when compared with a unfermented sample. The five parishin derivatives in Gastrodia elata were identified by HPLC-MS analyses, and a comparison of HPLC retention times with those of authentic compounds. When compared with parishin derivatives of an unfermented Gastrodia elata, those of Gastrodia elata fermented by L. sakei, increased to 18.3% for 2 days. Increases of about 14.0~38.4% of the total phenolic compounds and 57.4~77.3% total flavonoids were found in fermented extracts, by 3 lactic acid bacteria strains. They were compared with 97.1±2.9 μg/g and 40.9±2.0 μg/g in the unfermented control, respectively. The extracts of Gastrodia elata Blume that were fermented by lactic acid bacteria had higher DPPH free radical scavenging activity and FRAP reducing power than the unfermented control.

본 연구는 국내 재배면적이 확대되고 있는 목이버섯의 부가가치 향상과 소비량 확대를 위해 팽화기술을 접목한 목이버섯 즉석죽을 제조하고, 품질특성을 조사하여 실버층에 쉽게 적용할 수 있는 제품을 개발하고자 하였다. 백미와 흑미를 75~100%와 25~0%로 혼합한 후 비타민 D2와 식이섬유 함량이 높은 건목이버섯을 0~4%로 첨가하여 호화도, 영양성분, 항산화성 및 관능 등을 조사하였다. 즉석죽 분말의 호화도는 건목이버섯 첨가량이 증가할수록, 흑미 첨가량이 감소할수록 최고점도와 유지강도, 강하점도, 최종점도, 노화점도가 증가하는 경향이었다. 백미 80%와 흑미 20%를 혼합한 후 건목이버섯 3%를 첨가한 즉석죽은 비타민 D2 18.53 μg/100 g, 식이섬유 3.73 g/100 g이 함유되어 있어 뼈의 형성과 유지와 배변활동 촉진 효과가 기대되었다. 또한 DPPH free radical 소거능도 56.79%로 나타나, 항산화성이 높아 실버층의 건강에 기여할 것으로 기대되었다. 본 실험 결과, 목이버섯은 기능성 가공제품 개발의 소재로서 사용가치가 매우 높아 실버층뿐 아니라, 다양한 연령층에 적합한 가공제품 생산에 응용가능하리라 생각된다.

Proteinaceous insecticidal proteins, Cry proteins, from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are insecticidal proteins that are highly active against several species of Lepidoptera. Thus, cry genes encoding these Cry proteins have been widely applied for construction of transgenic crops resistant to pest insects. In this study, through the 3D structure prediction and accompanying mutagenesis study for the Mod-Cry1Ac, 7 and 16 amino acid residues from domain I and II, respectively, responsible for its insecticidal activity against larvae of Spodoptera exigua and Ostrinia furnacalis were identified. We used site-directed mutagenesis to improve the insecticidal activity of Mod-Cry1Ac, resulted 31 mutant cry genes. These mutant cry genes encodes potent insecticidal proteins in the form of crystalline protoxins of 95 kDa. SDS-PAGE analysis of the recombinant polyhedra revealed that expressed Cry proteins was occluded into polyhedra and activated stably to 65 kDa by trypsin. When the insecticidal activities of these mutant Cry proteins against to larvae of P. xylostella, S. exigua and O. furnacalis were assayed, they showed higher or similar insecticidal activity compared to those of Cry1Ac and Cry1C. Especially, Mutant-N16 is considered to have the potential for the efficacious biological insecticide since it showed the highest insecticidal activity.

Crystals of proteinaceous insecticidal proteins, Cry proteins, produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have been generally used to control insect pests. In this study, through the 3D structure prediction and accompanying mutagenesis study for the Mod-Cry1Ac, 7 and 16 amino acid residues from domain I and II, respectively, responsible for its insecticidal activity against larvae of Spodoptera exigua and Ostrinia furnacalis were identified. To construct novel cry genes with enhanced insecticidal activity, we randomly mutated these 23 amino acid sequences by in vitro muti site-directed mutagenesis, resulting in totally 24 mutant cry genes. For further characterization, these mutant cry genes were expressed as a fusion protein with polyhedrin using baculovirus expression system. SDS-PAGE analysis of the recombinant polyhedra revealed that expressed Cry proteins was occluded into polyhedra and activated stably to 65 kDa by trypsin. When the insecticidal activities of these mutant Cry proteins against to larvae of P. xylostella and S. exigua were assayed, they showed higher or similar insecticidal activity compared to those of Cry1Ac and Cry1C. Especially, among them Mutant-N16 showed the highest insecticidal activity against to both of P. xylostella and S. exigua. Therefore, Mutant-N16 is considered to have the potential for the efficacious biological insecticide.

Varieties of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crystal proteins, Cry proteins, have so far been found as one of the most successful biological control agents which are safe to natural environments for a long time. Recently, cry genes encoding these Cry proteins have been widely applied for construction of transgenic crops resistant to pest insects. In this study, through the 3D structure prediction and accompanying mutagenesis study for the Mod-Cry1Ac, 7 and 16 amino acid residues from domain I and II, respectively, responsible for its insecticidal activity against larvae of Spodoptera exigua and Ostrinia furnacalis were identified. To construct novel cry genes with improved insecticidal activity, we randomly mutated these 23 amino acid sequences by in vitro muti site-directed mutagenesis, resulting in totally 24 mutant cry genes. For further characterization, these mutant cry genes were expressed as a fusion protein with polyhedrin using baculovirus expression system. SDS-PAGE analysis of the recombinant polyhedra revealed that expressed Cry proteins was occluded into polyhedra and activated stably to 65 kDa by trypsin. In the further study, we plan to investigate their insecticidal activity against Plutella xylostella, S. exigua and O. furnacalis larvae.

‘Goryeo-jihwang’ is a new variety of Rehmannia glutinosa LIBOSCH developed at Jinan Perennial Herbs Experiment Station from 1995 to 1999 and registered as a new cutivar in 1999 which is selected from Andong local population. This variety could be characte