본 연구는 추출물 농도에 따른 생리활성물질의 용출량을 측정하기 위해 전자공여능과 총 폴 리페놀 함량을 측정한 결과이다. 전자공여능은 추출물의 첨가 농도가 15%인 경우는 21.81%로 나타났 고, 35% 농도에서 40.45%로 가장 높았다. 한약재의 첨가 농도가 증가함에 따라 전자공여능은 유의적으 로 증가하였다(p<0.05). 가장 높은 35% 첨가 농도에서의 40.45% 공여능은 이보다 더 낮았으므로 전자 공여능은 미약한 것으로 생각된다. 총 폴리페놀함량은 한방약술 15%에서는 113.89±1.79 ㎍ GAE/㎖로 나타났고, 한방약술 35% 에서는 274.24±0.71 ㎍ GAE/㎖로 나타나서 첨가물의 농도 증가에 따라 총 폴리페놀의 함량도 유의적으로 증가하였다(p<0.05). 추출물 농도가 30%에서 총 폴리페놀 함량의 증가 폭이 61.75 ㎍ GAE/㎖로 가장 높았다.

In an attempt to find natural sources of antioxidants and whitening agents, comparisons of the antioxidative and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of various ethanol extracts of Cuscutae Semen, Rubi Fructus and Paeoniae Radix were carried out. Comparison of the three ethanol extracts revealed that, Paeoniae Radix had the highest electron-donating ability(79.3%),; however, Rubi Fructus had the highest SOD-like ability(31.1%). The xanthine oxidase experiment exhibited a hindrance effect of 74.3% in Cuscutae Semen, 80.4% in Rubi Fructus and 60.8% in Paeoniae Radix. A tyrosinase inhibitory activity assay was conducted to evaluate the whitening effects of the extracts, The tyrosinase inhibitory activity was 20.1% in the Cuscutae Semen, 54.2% in the Rubi Fructus, 56.3% in the Paeoniae Radix. Based on these results, we suggest that the ethanol extracts of Cuscutae Semen, Rubi Fructus and Paeoniae Radix can be used as food and cosmetic ingredients.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of Semen Cuscutae on phenylephrine(PE) and KCl induced contraction of isolated rat thoracic aorta. Contractile force was measured with force displacement transducer under 1.5 g loading tension. Contraction evoked by PE (ED50) was relaxed significantly by Semen Cuscutae. The mean percent relaxing of PE induced contraction was 60.6% (p<0.01) after 300 ㎕/㎖ Semen Cuscutae, but the mean percent contraction of KCl induced contraction was 10.4% (p<0.05) after 300 ㎕/㎖ Semen Cuscutae. Vasorelaxation by Semen Cuscutae was significantly reduced after with and without endothelial cells. Pretreatment of aortic rings with L-NAME (100 μM), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, indomethacin (3 μM), an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase, methylene blue (10 μM), guanylyl cyclase inhibitor, propranolol (1 μM), a β-adrenoceptor antagonist, atropine (1 μM), a muscarinic receptor antagonist and diltiazem (10 μM), a Ca2+-channel blocker was recovered the effect aorta. These results indicate that Semen Cuscutae can relax EP induced contraction of isolated rat thoracic aorta and that this increasing contraction related to epithelium and various effect

Background : In the KHP (the Korea Herbal Pharmacopoeia), the Cuscutae Semen (菟絲子) is defined as the seed of the Cuscuta chinensis Lamark (family: Convolvulaceae). Using authentic raw herbal materials is fundamental to herbal medicine quality and Cuscutae Semen is widely distributed in many asian countries. Due to having tiny bodies of seeds, it is extremely difficult to differentiate them from adulterants and closely related species by morphologic characteristics, leading to serious safety problems. For this reason, there was conducted to develop molecular markers to distinguishing these Cuscuta chinensis with Cuscuta japonica and Cuscuta pentagona by using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Method and Results : In this study we developed a clearly and efficient method to identify Cuscutae Semen on the market. These samples (C. chinensis, C. japonica and C. pentagona) were analyzed from two barcode regions of chloroplast DNA (rbcL, psbA-trnH) and nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS2). Based on genetic distance, the precent of variable sites were provided the highest psbA-trnH value (38.7%), followed by ITS2 (23.4%), rbcL (9.9%), in order to develop a specific primer that can distinguish C. chinensis, C. japonica and C. pentagona. Conclusion : From the above results, DNA barcoding was proved to be a successful tool for authentication the three species of Cuscutae semen. The adoption of DNA barcoding as an authentication tool by food safety agencies can safeguard the interests of both consumers and traders.