Fulvic acid, a humic substance with unique properties, has sparked interest due to its potential applications in the treatment of allergic diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and as a microplastic adsorbent. However, conventional extraction methods produce insufficient quantities for commercial use, which has prompted research to enhance fulvic acid production. In this study, we investigated the impact of Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation on the yield and spectral characteristics of fulvic acid extracted from white peat. Fulvic acid was extracted from both S. cerevisiae-treated and untreated white peats using acid precipitation. The yield of fulvic acid from the S. cerevisiae treated group reached its highest at 3.5 % after 72 hr of fermentation, which was significantly higher than the untreated group (1.1 %). Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis revealed similarities in functional groups and characteristic absorption bands between the treated and untreated fulvic acid samples. These findings suggest that S. cerevisiae fermentation can increase the yield of fulvic acid extracted from white peat, providing a promising approach for enhancing the commercial viability of fulvic acid production.

PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to evaluate the asphalt binder properties using FTIR analysis. METHODS : To investigate the chemical properties of asphalt binders, FTIR tests were performed. Recently, FTIR was used for quantification under various aging conditions. Three scans were averaged for each sample within the wavenumber range of 4000 to 400 cm-1, at a resolution of 4 cm-1 (default Simatech software settings). To determine the oxidation of the extracted asphalt binder and the remaining TCE solution in the extracted asphalt binder, the penetration test was adopted and compared. To track the changes in the chemical composition of the aged bitumens, the ATR spectrum of each sample was analyzed, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The qualitative analysis involved identifying characteristic absorption peaks for the functional group of interest, such as polymer components, carbon and sulfur oxidation products, and polar aromatics. RESULTS : The asphalt binder is easily oxidized in air during FTIR testing. To reduce the oxidization of the asphalt binder, the asphalt binder must avoid air contact to measure constant results. Sometimes, the extracted asphalt binder has a residual solvent (TCE), which affects the evaluation of the extracted asphalt binder rheology, such as absolute viscosity and penetration testing. To solve this problem, the research team adopted the FTIR test method. First, the TCE was scanned with FTIR to obtain the chemical characteristics of TCE. After that, the extracted asphalt binder was scanned and the FTIR spectra were compared with those of TCE. If there is a TCE in the extracted asphalt binder, a typical peak was found in the spectrum. Thus, it is possible to estimate the content of the TCE remaining in the extracted asphalt binder via the FTIR test method. CONCLUSIONS : It is possible to evaluate the aging of asphalt binder through FTIR analysis used for the analysis of the chemical structure of asphalt. In addition, during FTIR analysis, the sample is required to avoid air contact to obtain accurate results. FTIR analysis was conducted to confirm whether the solvent (TCE) remained in the extracted asphalt binder and it was confirmed that the penetration increased by a factor of two when the solvent remained. This suggests that it is difficult to control the quality of the asphalt mixture by controlling the amount of recycled additive, as well as the aging of the extracted asphalt binder.

When steel members are corroded, both static and dynamic load carrying capacities are damaged. Static load carrying capacity is easily evaluated because it is only effected by the minimum cross sectional area. However, dynamic load carrying capacity is not easily evaluated because it is effected by distribution of stress and the distribution of stress is not easy to measure. To prevent fracture, it is important to investigate highly stressed region when corrosion occur. In this study, a simple evaluation method for stress concentration factor directly from corroded surface to simply evaluate dynamic load carrying capacity.

Little attention has been paid to the functional aspect of the flower petal of Paeonia lactiflora, compared to that of its root. To determine the components of flower petal of Paeonia lactiflora, we conducted the Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) MASS spectrophotometric analysis. We detected the 24 different types of ingredients from the 70% ethanol extracts of flower petal of peonia lactiflora cv. ‘Red Charm’. The main compounds were quercetin glucopyranosides, methyl gallate, paonioflolol and kaemperol glucopyranosides. We further tested its functional activity. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity of the extracts was 87.9-90.4% at 0.1mg/ml. This result showed that these flower extracts have approximately 5-fold stronger antioxidant potential than a previous report with root extracts (Bang et al. 1999). The result of tyrosinase inhibition assay of Paeonia lactflora extract was almost similar to that of arbutin except significantly higher effect in the coral sunset extract at 0.1% concentration. Hyaluronidase inhibition assay showed 76.5% inhibition at 5% concentration of this flower extract, indicating that Peaonia lactiflora flower extracts have the major anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and brightening effects. Taken together, these results suggest these three Paeonia lactiflora species extracts might provide the basis to develop a new natural brightening agent.

Panax ginseng C.A Meyer is commonly used in Asian traditional medicine to treat a variety of diseases. Ginsenosides are glycosylated triterpenes, referred to saponins, have been especially noted as active compounds contributing to the various efficacy of ginseng. In this study, we are trying to select high saponin content of ginseng lines from the gamma irradiated adventitious roots. Recently, we have generated several mutant ginseng lines improving ginseniside content by gamma radiation. The mutant lines were selected by phenotypes and ginsenoside content (HPLC analysis) of the irradiated adventitious root lines. However, the ginsenoside content of the mutant lines was not sufficient for commercial use and the selection method was not suitable for large scale of mutant line selection. In this study, we are testing Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) as a new selection method of mutant lines in Panax ginseng. About 5,000 pieces of Panax ginseng adventitious roots were exposed to gamma radiation (60Co). Irradiation dosages were 0, 25, 50 and 70Gy. Survival rate of the irradiated samples was evaluated by counting the number of survival main roots after 5 weeks culture in the solid MS medium with NAA, IAA and 5% sucrose. In present, we are collecting the survived adventitious root lines (about 900 lines) from the gamma irradiated ginseng roots for FT-IR and HPLC analysis. After analysis of FT-IR and HPLC, we will assess the suitability of the FT-IR as a screening method for the preparation of mutant lines in ginseng.

친환경적이면서 신속한 비파괴 분석방법인 FT-NIR를 이용하여 백미의 총식이섬유(TDF)함량 예측모델을 개발하였다. 백미는 국내산으로 전남지방에서 재배된 47개 품종과, 시중 유통 중인 13개 브랜드 미에 대해서 AOAC 방법에 준한 효소법에 의해 TDF 함량을 분석하였다. 습식 분석된 TDF함량의 범위는 이었다. FT-NIR로 측정된 스펙트럼의 검량식은 빛의 산란 효과를 최소화하기 위해 수학적 처리를 하였고, 몇 개의 특정 파장이 아닌 전 파