In our studies on the role of -galactosidase in fruit softening, significant difficulty, was encountered in our attempts to extract RNA from persimmon(Diospyros kaki L. cv. Fuyu) fruit due to astringency and tannin content. Initial, unsuccessful RNA extractions involved methods using guanidinium isothiocyanate/CsCl with and without polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP), phenol/sodium lauryl sulfate(SDS), guanidinium hydrochloride, as well as polysomal RNA purification method that used 0.2 M Tris-HCI (pH 9.0) containing KCI, Mg-acetate, EDTA, -mercaptoethanol, and sucrose. A method was devised which employed treatment of fruit with CO2 gas to diminish astringency prior to RNA extraction, followed by extraction of tissue powders with Proteinase K extraction buffer containing PVP and ascorbate at an alkaline pH. This procedure resulted in the removal of tannins and other polyphenolics and extraction of relatively large amount of high-quality RNA suitable for cDNA library construction and polymerase chain reaction(PCR). Futhermore, the procedure does not use the toxic and corrosive chemical guanidinium isothiocyanate or require ultracentrifugation.

Thiobacillus neopolitanus R-10, which produces a active thiosulfate oxidase, was isolated from nightsoil. The optimal culture conditions of Thiobacillus neopolitanus R-10 for the production of enzyme was determined as followed: 0.8% Na2S203, 0.2% KH2P04, 0.2% K2HP04, 0.04% Na2C03, 0.02% MgSO4·7H2O, 2ml trace elements solution, and pH 6.5 at 30℃ and 72hr cultivation. The oxidase was successively purified 83 folds yield by (NH2)2S04 fractionation, DEAE-Cellulose, Sephadex A-50 column chromatogrophy and gel Sephadex G-150 gel filteration with yield of 5.9%. The molecular weight of purified enzyme was estimated to be 43.000 dalton by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filteration column chromatography. The enzyme activity was highest at 40℃ and pH 7.0 The enzyme activity was relatively high by β-mercaptoethanol but strongly inhibited by cysteine.

To investigate the effect of several bactericides and fungicides against fruit & vegetable decay grapefruit seed extract(GFSE) was tested in a dilution solution. GFSE was shown to be effective against decay and rind breakdown and to extend the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables during storage and tiansport. Antimicrobial efficiency of GFSE on a wide spectra of gram + & - bacteria, moulds and yeasts was demonstrated by the measurement of minimal inhibitory concentrations performed (Bacteria 10-500ppm, Fungi:250-1,000ppm, Yeasts:100-250ppm). GFSE was separated and extracted into water-soluble fraction, water-insoluble and non-dialyzed fraction to isolate the antimicrobial substances. The water-soluble fraction showed the most active antimicrobial effect. The antimicrobial substances were isolated by gas chromatography. As the result of the isolation using GC, Peak-D was found to be the antimicrobial compound in GFSE. The identification of the most antimicrobial substance was carried out by using GC-MS.

The experiment was carried out to study the bothanical characteristics of Aconitum charmichaeli Sieb. et Zucc in Korea.The results obtained are summarized as follows ; maximum flowering date was 15 Sep. and plantheight was 65cm, stem diameter was 8.7mm, No. of node was 25 and node of flowering initiation was15th.In flowering, No. of anothers were 52 and No. of flowers were 49.In leaf, length and width was same size, lower leaf size was 2-3 times than upper leaf, lower leafarea was 8.4 times than upper leaf.In tuber, No. of tuber per plant was 8, fresh weight per tuber was 25.4g, total fresh weight per plantwas about 200g