Background : Polygala tenuifolia is mainly distributed in Korea and China. It is known to be mainly helpful for brain function and has been used medicinally for a long time. Currently, most of that used in domestic are imported from China. We want to identify the basic characteristics to replace imports and grow into new domestic income crops. Previous studies have examined the storage conditions of seeds and the areas suitable for cultivation. In this study, seed harvesting, germination conditions and seedling production methods are explained. Methods and Results : Seed harvest method - in early June, we have covered the funnel, paper bag and mesh bag. Seed harvested at the end of June were sorted by wind speed of 3.5 m/s – 6.1 m/s and 1 ㎜ - 4 ㎜ mesh size. The germination rate was measured at 20℃ for 10 days. Suit of the germination temperature - the germination rate was measured by 100 seeds, three replicates with a temperature gradient of 15℃ to 35℃ and 2℃ intervals. In order to confirm the conditions for seedling production, the emergence rate was examined at 20℃, 25℃, 30℃ and 35℃ in growth chamber. The seed harvesting method was 1.88 g of mesh bag the highest yield. The best sorting method was 2 ㎜ mesh size and 5.7 m/s wind speed. The germination temperature was the highest at 89.7 - 90.3% at the temperature range of 1 9℃ - 20℃ and the germination rate was decreased to 21.0% at 27℃. The seedling production rate was highest at 20℃. There was no difference in growth according to the pot size, but the survival rate was the highest in 105 size Conclusion : As a result of this study, Polygala tenuifolia was confirmed that harvesting by mesh bag and sorting by size and wind speed were effective for seed quality and yield. The seed germination was observed at relatively low temperature. These results can be used as basic data for cultivation.

Background : This study was conducted to investigate the seedling, growth, and yield characteristics of 1-year-old Polygala tenuifolia by cultivation of different regions. Methods and Results : After growing the seedlings for 2 months in the greenhouse, they were planted at different altitudes including: 100 m or less (Cheongju), 250 m (negative), 300 m (Jecheon), and 500 m (Pyeongchang) in the first week of May. The flowering period, fertilization period, fruit weight, growth, and yield were recorded and investigated in that period. Results of analyzing the physicochemical properties of the soils revealed that the pH of the soil was close to neutrality of 6.7 - 7.3 at 100 m, 250 m, and 500 m altitudes and an acidity of pH 5.7 at 300 m altitude. The average temperature for different time periods and altitudes are the following: 3.8℃ from June to October during the harvesting season, 21.8℃ at 100 m altitude in the end of June, 10.8℃ at 500 m altitude in the middle of harvest period, and 2.7℃ higher at 100 m altitude than 500 m altitude. The difference in the number of rooting (between 11 and 12/㎡) and the rate of rooting (82 - 92%) was not significant. The plant length was 25 - 26.5 ㎝ at 300 m and 500 m altitude. The largest number of branch was at 1.8 with 250 m altitude and largest stalk diameter at 500 m altitude at 6.0 ㎜. Leaf length and leaf width were the same per area, but the branches were the largest at 500 m at 17.9. Dry weight of 12.7 g was heaviest at 500 m altitude implying that the higher the altitude, the higher the dry weight will be. Moreover, in the 500 m altitude, root length of 29.2 ㎝ was the longest, root diameter was 5.9 ㎜, and the dry root weight of 7.9 g was the heaviest. However, the number of supporting root was 4.9 - 7.3 which was not statistically significant. The optimal yield per 10 a was 94 ㎏ at 500 m altitude. This was very high compared to yield of 28 ㎏ at 100 m altitude. The seed weight per 10 a was 1.5 ㎏ and 2.3 ㎏ at 100 m and 300 m altitude, respectively. The highest content of Teuifolin contained in the root was 124.07 ppm at 500 m altitude. Conclusion : Results showed that 1-year-old P. tenuifolia had optimal growth, higher yield and better vital component content at altitude of 500 m.

Background : This study was performed to investigate change in OnjisaponinB contents of Polygala tenuifolia depending on drying methods. Methods and Results : For this study, 5-years-old Polygala tenuifolia local cultivars from RDA(Eumseong) were used. Before starting to drying, root was shade-dried for 3 days and separated with the lead. Next, two types of drying methods conducted; natural drying and hot air drying. Hot air drying was controlled at 40℃, 50℃, 60℃ and 70℃ and checked with every 3 hours. Dried root from market was used as control group. The water content of raw root was about 52.04%. When it started to dry, the contents of it significantly decreased. The dried roots from market were 6.25 - 6.84%. To be under 7% of water contents, 6 hours of drying was enough in natural drying methods and 40℃, 50℃hot air drying methods. In case of 60℃, 70℃ hot air drying methods, it took under 3 hours. The OnjisaponinB contents of raw root was 0.53%. The dried root from market had 0.74% of onjisaponinB. During the drying, the contents of OnjisaponinB changed depending on the drying methods. Hot air drying method had more effect on OnjisaponinB contents than natural drying method. Conclusion : From the above results, we may suggest that natural drying methods was enough to drop the water content of Polygala tenuifolia. Because during pre-treatment steps including shade-drying and separating lead, much of water contents already decreased and became easy to lose water. However to get more OnjisaponinB, hot air drying methods can beneficial than natural drying methods.

본 연구는 원지(Polygala tenuifolia)의 영양성분 및 항비만 효과를 측정하였다. 일반성분은 원지 원지의 경우 건부량 기준 탄수화물 21.7%, 조단백질 18.5%, 조지방 14.5%, 조회분 2.4%, 식이섬유 42.9%로 함유되어 있었다. 원지 열수 추출물과 70% 에탄올 추출물의 단백질, 유리아미노산, 총당 및 환원당 함량은 열수 추출물이 70% 에탄올 추출물 보다 함유량이 높게 나타내었다. 원지 열수 추출물과 70% 에탄올 추출물의 총 폴리페놀 함량과 ABTS와 DPPH 라디칼 소거능을 측정한 결과, 총 폴리페놀 함량은 열수 추출물은 26.6 mg/g으로 70% 에탄올 추출물보다 폴리페놀 함유량이 높게 나타내었으며, ABTS 라디칼 소거능은 열수 추출물의 경우 0.95 mg/mL의 농도에서 RC50값이 관찰되어 70% 에탄올 추출물보다 ABTS 라디칼 소거능이 우수한 것으로 확인하였다. DPPH 라디칼 소거능은 RC50값이 70% 에탄올 추출물의 경우 3.29 mg/mL로 관찰되어 열수 추출물보다 70% 에탄올 추출물의 높은 활성을 나타내었다. 원지의 항비만 효과를 알아보기 위해 분화된 3T3-L1 지방세포에서 원지 열수 추출물과 70% 에탄올 추출물의 지방세포 분화 억제에 미치는 영향을 확인하였다. MTT assay를 이용하여 세포 독성을 측정한 결과 100 μg/mL 이하의 농도에서 세포 증식에 영향을 미치지 않는 것을 확인하였고, 이와 같은 결과를 토대로 oil-red O 염색법을 이용하여 지방세포 분화 억제능을 측정하였다. 그 결과, 원지 열수 추출물의 경우 10 μg/mL의 농도에서 40.1% 지방세포 분화 억제능을 나타내어 70% 에탄올 추출물보다 우수한 효과를 나타내었다. 지방생성에 영향을 미치는 유전자 발현량을 측정하기 위해 western blot법과 real-time PCR 법을 시행하였다. 원지 물 추출물은 SREBP-1c, PPARγ, CEBP/α의 단백질과 mRNA 발현을 억제 시켰고, 지방 생성에 영향을 미치는 효소인 FAS와 ACC의 생성을 조절하는 것으로 나타났다. 이와 같이 본 연구에서는 원지의 항비만 효능을 확인하였다. 원지물 추출물의 경우 비만 예방 효능을 가진 기능성 식품 소재로서의 개발이 기대되며, 원지의 항비만 효능을 최적화를 위하여 추후 동물 실험 및 독성 실험 등에 대한 연구가 필요할 것으로 생각된다.