Oriental medicine uses many herbs with biological activity. Among these, some have anti-inflammatory activities, but their action mechanisms have yet to be fully elucidated. Therefore, in this study, we harvested mouse bone marrow cells (BMs) and treated them with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), after which they were treated with the extracts of four medicinal herbs. The metabolic activity, cell death ratio, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha production of the BMs was then evaluated. Among the four medicinal herbs, Caesalpinia sappan (CS) significantly decreased the metabolic activity, mitochondrial membrane potential of BMs, and production of TNF-alpha, especially in the presence of LPS. Moreover, CS increased the cell death of BMs stained with propidium iodide. Taken together, these findings indicate that CS inhibited the biological activities of LPS-treated BMs in multiple assays, confirming that CS has anti-inflammatory activity.

In order to search for anti -melanin formation agents from Korean medicinal herbs, we selected 21 Korean medicinal herbs, based on a review of Korean traditional medicine books and the recommendations of Korean traditional medical doctors. We tested for i

Irradiated and non-irradiated Korean medicinal herbs were extracted by water and 70% ethanol. Antimicrobial activity of these extracts were investigated against selected food hygiene microoganisms. The ethanol extracts of the non-irradiated Agrimonia pilosa ledebour japonica Nakai, Curcuma longa Linne and Angelica gigas Nakai were completely inhibited on four species of bacteria, such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Clostridium perfringenes, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. Also, above four strains did not have antibacterial activity in the water-ethanol mixtures. Futhermore, the ethanol extracts of the non-irradiated Agrimonia pilosa ledebour Japonica Nakai, Curcuma ledoaria Roscoe, Curcuma longa Linne and Scutellaria baikalensis George were shown inhibitory effects against Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium islandicum. And the water extract of Scutellaria baikalensis George was the same effect to these molds. Essentially the same results were observed when samples irradiated at a dose of 10 kGy.

In order to increase the medicinal herbs efficiency of drug delivery, vesicles contained with medicinal herbs were prepared by phosphatidylcholines and surface active agent. Vesicles loaded with medicinal herbs were characterized by UV-spectroscopy, Zetasizer. The antioxidant activity of vesicles was measured by DPPH assay and ABTS radical scavenging assays. Also, an analysis was conducted to determine the effects of anti-inflammatory of vesicles contained medicinal herbs. In addition, the whitening effects of vesicles contained medicinal herbs extract were studied via tyrosinase inhibition assay. The results of vesicles were as follows. Vesicles appeared an average diameter of approximatively 164-599 nm. All studied vesicles contained with medicinal herbs showed antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and whitening effects in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, this experiment achieves its purpose of synthesizing of vesicles. In conclusion, we recommended that the vesicles loaded with medicinal herbs have ability for anti-aging materials. Specifically, it will apply to cosmetic ingredients.

Background : Five medicinal herbs have been selected from the preliminary screening for in vitro anti-allergy activity (in RBL-2H3 cells). The present study is conducted to investigate the inhibitory effects of the medicinal herbs on allergic inflammation in other kind of cells. Methods and Results : Cells treated with five extracts prepared from Betula costata Trautv. (aerial part), Camellia sinensis L. (aerial part), Polygonatum stenophyllum Maxim. (root), Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta (Makino) Nakai (leaf), and Rehmannia glutinosa (Gaertn.) Libosch. ex Steud. (root) were measured for mRNA levels of TNF-α on HaCaT keratinocytes stimulated by TNF-α /INF-γ and for mRNA levels of IL-2 in Jurkat T cells mediated by PMA/A23187. Pre-treatment with the five extracts reduced the mRNA levels of TNF-α in HaCaT cells and mRNA levels of IL-2 in Jurkat T cells. In particular, the leaf extract of Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta (Makino) Nakai significantly and dose-dependently decreased the mRNA levels of TNF-α and IL-2. To determine the toxicity of the extracts from the selected medicinal herbs to HaCaT cells and Jurkat T cells, the viabilities of the cells treated with several concentrations of the five extracts were measured by MTT assay. Extracts of Polygonatum stenophyllum Maxim. (root), Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta (Makino) Nakai (leaf), and Rehmannia glutinosa (Gaertn.) Libosch. ex Steud. (root) (up to 250 ㎍/㎖) did not show cytotoxic effects on HaCaT cells and Jurkat T cells. On the other hand, 250 ㎍/㎖ of extracts of Betula costata Trautv. (aerial part) and Camellia sinensis L. (aerial part) reduced cell viability in both cells. Conclusion : These results demonstrate that the leaf extract of Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta (Makino) Nakai has an anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokine expression. Therefore, the leaf of Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta (Makino) Nakai can be a useful resource for the development of anti-allergy/anti-inflammatory materials.

The effects of dip treatments of chemicals (ascorbic acid, cystein, sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, histidine: 1% solution) and medicinal herbs (Pueraria thunbergiana, Angelica gigas, Dioscorea japonica, Lindera strychifolia, Cnidium officinale, Astragalus membranaceus: 1% extracts), heat shock (40-60℃ water), and edible coating (albumin, dextrin, sucrose poly ester, whole soy flour: 0.5-4% solution) on the browning degree of fresh-cut 'Fuji' apples were studied. Among the each treatment methods, the surface browning of fresh-cut apples was best retarded by calcium chloride dip, Astragalus membranaceus dip, 45-50℃ heat shock, coating with 3% dextrin or 1% whole soy flour. The results suggest that the treatments of medicinal herbs extracts, heat shock, and edible coating can be used as alternative for the use of chemical agents for the antibrowning of fresh-cut apples

본 실험은 전통발효식품인 청국장의 기능성 및 품질향상을 위한 기초자료를 제공하기 위하여 생약초(표고버섯, 더덕, 어성초) 추출물을 각각 동량 섞어 제조한 것을 청국장환에 10%, 20% 및 30% 첨가하여 제조한 다음 이들의 이화학적 특성을 조사하였다. 생약초 추출물 첨가량이 증가함에 따라 색도 중 L값과 b값은 다소 증가하였으며, pH의 경우 약간 감소하는 경향을 보였다. 일반성분 중 조단백질, 조지방과 조섬유 함량은 생약초 첨가수준이 높을수록

숙취해소효과가 우수한 제품을 개발하기 위하여, 약용식물 25종의 열수추출물에 대하여 in vitro에서 ADH와 ALDH의 저해 및 활성작용이 우수한 약용식물 12종을 선발, 일정 비율로 혼합한 약용식물 추출액에 대하여 발효를 행한 후 in vitro 및 in vivo실험을 통하여 숙취해소효과를 검토하였다, 그 결과, 감초 -0.3%, 갈근 -3.2%, 구기자 -1.7%, 맥문동 4.8%, 속새 8.3%, 오가피 3.5%, 및 지구자 -2.1%를

Korean medicinal herb extracts(KMHE) were applied to the preservation of greenhouse produce in order to prove their effectiveness. KMHE showed remarkable antimicrobial effects against Bacillus cereus, Peudomonas syringae, and Corynebacterium xerosis causing the postharvest decay of greenhouse produce. Among KMHE the extracts of Rheum palmatum L. and Coptis chinensis Franch most obviously inhibited the growth of microorganims causing the Postharvest decay of greenhouse produce, which destroyed to undetectable levels when treated with more than 500ppm of KMHE. The activities of KMHE were stable in the wide spectrum of pH and temperature. Direct visualization of microbial cells by using both transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope showed microbial cell membrane the function of which was destroyed by treating with the dilute solutions of KMHE. This change of cellular membrane permeability could be identified in the experiment that O-nitrophenyl--D-galactopyranoside(ONPG), the artificial substrate of -galactosidase, was hydrolyzed in the presence of KMHE, indicating that the membrane was perturbed by KMHE.