Effect of germinated grain flours on physicochemical characteristics of rice cakes, Seolgitteok.

Minor grains and their germinated shoots such as buckwheat, Job's tears, and mungbean have diverse bioactive functionalities. In this study, the flours of grains and germinated grains were added to Korean rice cakes, known as Seolgitteok, and the effects on properties such as starch gelatinization and retrogradation were examined. The dietary fiber content, blue value index, amylogram, texture properties and sensory evaluation of Seolgitteok were also investigated. Rice flour amylogram results showed that addition of buckwheat, germinated Job's tears, and mungbean decreased starch setback, and that addition of buckwheat decreased consistency, which are related to slowed retrogradation. Buckwheat, especially when germinated, delayed starch retrogradation, which is one of the main drawbacks of rice cakes. Seolgitteok with added germinated buckwheat possessed preferable sensory qualities.

Immunomodulatory effect of water soluble extract separated from mycelium of Phellinus linteus on experimental atopic dermatitis.

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is becoming a popular treatment for modulating diverse immune disorders. Phellinus linteus (P. linteus) as one of the CAMs has been used to modulate cancers, inflammation and allergic activities. However, little evidence has been shown about its underlying mechanism of action by which it exerts a beneficial role in dermatological disease in vivo. In this study, we examined the immunomodulatory effects of P. linteus on experimental atopic dermatitis (AD) and elucidated its action mechanism. METHODS: The immunomodulatory effect of total extract of P. linteus on IgE production by human myeloma U266B1 cells was measured by ELISA. To further identify the effective components, P. linteus was fractionated into methanol soluble, water soluble and boiling water soluble extracts. Each extract was treated to U266B1 cells and primary B cells to compare their inhibitory effects on IgE secretion. To test the in vivo efficacy, experimental atopic dermatitis (AD) was established by alternative treatment of DNCB and house dust mite extract into BALB/c mice. Water soluble extract of P. linteus (WA) or ceramide as a positive control were topically applied to ears of atopic mouse every day for 2 weeks and progression of the disease was estimated by the following criteria: (a) ear thickness, clinical score, (b) serum total IgE, IgG and mite specific IgE level by ELSIA, (c) histological examination of ear tissue by H&E staining and (d) cytokine profile of total ear cells and CD4(+) T cells by real time PCR and ELSIA. RESULTS: Treatment of total extracts of P. linteus to U266B1 inhibited IgE secretion. Among the diverse extracts of P. linteus, water soluble extract of P. linteus (WA) significantly reduced the IgE production in primary B cells and B cell line U266B1. Moreover, treatment of WA reduced AD symptoms such as ear swelling, erythema, and dryness and decreased recruitment of lymphocyte into the inflamed site. Interestingly WA treatment significantly reduced IgE level without affecting IgG levels and also down-regulated the levels of pathogenic cytokines (IL-4, IL-13, IL-12 and IFN-γ) and chemokines (CCL17 and CCL22) involved in AD development. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that protective effect of water soluble extract of P. linteus in atopic dermatitis is mediated by inhibiting IgE production and expression of AD associated pathogenic cytokines as well as chemokines, suggesting the beneficial effect of P. linteus to modulate allergic skin disease.

Morphological characteristics of korean dried ginseng products.

The purpose of this study was to determine a standard quality characteristic through the evaluation and statistical analysis of the morphological characteristics of dried ginseng (white ginseng) products. Samples of 4-year-old 30 and 50 piece grade curved ginseng and 5-year-old 25 and 15 piece grade straight ginseng products were collected from a market, with 5 to 10 packs of each product being collected annually over a 5-year period (2006-2010). Morphological characteristics, such as weight, length, diameter, and surface color, were measured and statistically analyzed to present a standard quality characteristic value using mean±3SD, a range that excluded outlier. The 4-year-old curved ginseng samples of 50 and 30 piece grade were 4.80 to 6.12 cm and 5.28 to 7.60 cm long, 0.22 to 1.70 cm and 0.21 to 2.07 cm wide, and weighed 5.28 to 7.40 g and 8.62 to 12.26 g, respectively. The 5-year-old straight ginseng samples of 25 and 15 piece grade were 9.66 to 15.47 cm and 10.66 to 16.80 cm long, 1.32 to 1.94 cm and 1.48 to 2.43 cm wide, and weighed 9.18 to 16.40 g and 15.89 to 24.82 g, respectively. The surface color of the different piece grades in the same type of dried ginseng product was similar, whereas the straight ginseng demonstrated a lower level of brightness, but the relative redness and yellowness were of higher levels, than that of curved ginseng.

The changes of ginsenoside patterns in red ginseng processed by organic Acid impregnation pretreatment.

In order to enhance bioactive functionalities of ginseng, an acid impregnation processing was applied as a pre-treatment in producing red ginseng. Acid impregnation studies were conducted, and acids (ascorbic, malic, and citric acid) were selected. The optimal concentration of each acid was investigated in this study in terms of ginsenoside contents. The most concerned ginsenoside, Rg3 was increased by ascorbic, malic, and citric acid pre-treated red ginseng up to 1 M acid concentration. In the case of ascorbic acid pre-treated red ginseng, Rg2 concentration was increased depending on acid concentrations. Citric acid pre-treatment enhanced Rg2, Rg3, and Rh1+Rh2 formation in red ginseng. Therefore, ginsenoside patterns in red ginseng could be changed by acid impregnation pre-treatment depending on acid concentration and acid types. This research is expected to contribute to the development of the ginseng industry via new red ginseng products with selective and intensified functionality.

Inhibitory effects of cinnamic acid on melanin biosynthesis in skin.

Cinnamic acid is a wildly distributed phenylpropanoid component naturally occurring in plants, and is mainly found in Cinnamomum cassia BLUME and Panax ginseng. Cinnamic acid was recently reported to exert a tyrosinase inhibitory effect. However, research on melanocytes and animal bodies was not reported until now. In this study, we examined the effects of cinnamic acid on melanin biosynthesis within the melanocytes and brown guinea pigs. Melan-a cells were used to examine the effects of cinnamic acid in the melanocytes. Treatment with 100 ppm of cinnamic acid resulted in a significant reduction of melanin production in the melan-a cells at 29.0%. This compound also exhibited a potent inhibitory effect on tyrosinase activity and reduced tyrosinase expression in the melan-a cells. Moreover, cinnamic acid exhibited depigmenting activity on the UV-B-induced hyperpigmentation of brown guinea pig skin. Our results suggest that cinnamic acid might act as a skin whitening agent via inhibition of tyrosinase activity and expression within melanocytes.

New approach for characterization of gelatin biopolymer films using proton behavior determined by low field 1H NMR spectrometry.

The behavior of protons in biopolymer films (BFs) formed with gelatin, water, and glycerol was investigated at various relative humidities (RHs) and concentrations of glycerol using a low field 1H NMR spectrometer. At a RH of approximately 0%, the distributed spin-spin relaxation times (T2) of protons in BFs showed two components: a rapidly relaxing proton with the shortest T2 derived from protons in the rigid backbone of the gelatin polymer such as CH1-, CH2-, and CH3-, and a slowly relaxing component with longer T2 from protons of the functional groups in amino acid residues in gelatin such as -OH, -COOH, and -NH3. These two components are referred to as nonexchangeable (T2N) and exchangeable protons (T2E), respectively, indicating the different mobility of the protons. The T2E increased as RH increased indicating the increase in relative mobility of protons due to the larger free volume in the BF matrix. Above a RH of 33%, the slowest relaxing component was found in all BFs and referred to as hydration-water protons (T2W) with the highest relative mobility of all protons in the films. It suggests that the free volume in BFs can be formed above a RH of 33% in the absence of glycerol. The behaviors of T2N, T2E, and T2W reveal the formation of free volume in the BF matrix associated with the presence of plasticizers (water and glycerol). The T2 behavior in BFs is consistent with the behavior of spin-lattice relaxation (T1). Our result is the first attempt to characterize using low field 1H NMR technology how all protons in a film matrix behave and to develop correlations between proton mobility and free volume in protein-based BFs plasticized with water and glycerol.