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White, red, and extruded ginsengs were studied against 8 strains of food-borne pathogens and/or food spoilage microorganisms. The ginseng powders were extracted with different extractants and screened for antimicrobial activity using the disc diffusion and broth dilution techniques. The results showed that the yield of extraction was higher with increase of aqueous solution content and temperature. Preliminary screening revealed that the red ginseng extracts were most active, that has been found to be highly effective against all tested microbe except Listeria monocytogenes. Moreover, Bacillus subtilis has shown highly susceptible, which the diameters of inhibition zone values of 28 extracts were between 7 and 14 mm. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) recorded for the different crude ginseng extracts against microorganism using ranged from 6.25 to 100 mg/mL, indicated that the methanol extract of ginseng were more effective than ethanol and water extracts. The 60% methanol extract of red ginseng had the greatest effects against B. subtilis with MIC and MBC values at 6.25 mg/mL.

S-Adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) is a bioactive material used in the treatment of depression, osteoarthritis, and liver disease. To obtain lactic acid bacteria (LAB) producing high concentrations of SAM, LAB were isolated from commercial kimchi and from prepared kimchi products that contained shrimp jeotgal (fermented salty seafood) or sand lance jeotgal or that were fermented at 5 or 10℃, respectively, when pH was 4.2 to 4.8 and titratable acidity 0.6 to 0.9. Among the 179 LAB strains isolated from the fermented kimchi products, the genus Leuconostoc produced the highest intracellular level of SAM (1.58 mM) and Lactobacillus produced the second highest level (up to 1.47 mM) in the strain culture. This is the first study to quantify SAM in LAB isolated from fermented kimchi prepared by a general kimchi recipe. Ultimately, the selected strains (Leuconostoc mesentroides subsp. mesenteroides/dextranicum KSK417, L. mesentroides subsp. mesenteroides/dextranicum KJM401, and Lactobacillus bifermentans QMW327) could be useful as starters to manufacture fermented foods containing high levels of SAM.

Enterobacter sakazakii, Salmonella typhimurium. and Bacillus cereus were evaluated on inoculated infant formula by gamma irradiation treatment as a method to provide microbial safety. The infant formula inoculated with the major pathogenic bacteria was treated at irradiation dose of 0, 3, 5, and 10 kGy, respectively. After treatment, the samples were individually packaged and stored at 20℃. Microbiological data during storage represented that the populations of E. sakazakii, S. typhimurium, and B. cereus were reduced with the increase of irradiation dose by 4 to 5 log reductions. In particular, E. sakazakii, S. typhimurium. and B. cereus were eliminated at 10, 5, and 3 kGy, respectively. E. sakazakii was the most radiation-resistant, while B. cereus was the least. Our results represent that gamma irradiation below 10 kGy should eliminate the growth of the major pathogenic bacteria in infant formula during storage.

Effects of chitosan coating on respiration rate and internal gas composition of 'Fuji' apple and 'Satsuma' mandarin were investigated and compared to wax emulsions and two commercial coating materials. Chitosan coating reduced respiration rate significantly (p<0.05) in 'Fuji' apple and 'Satsuma' mandarin compared to uncoated and other coating materials. Chitosan coating on 'Fuji' apple showed the highest CO2 and the lowest O2 concentration in the internal gas composition at 5℃ but showed no differences compared to other coating materials at 20℃. 'Satsuma' mandarin showed significantly high CO2 concentration in chitosan coating at 20℃ but there were not significant differences among coating materials in CO2 and O2 composition at 5℃.

Barley β-Glucan was subjected to chemical modification and the anticoagulant activity of the derivative was investigated. The barley β-Glucan was successfully sulfated, showing the degree of substitution calculated by elemental analysis of 0.40. In addition, the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra of the derivative confirmed the sulfation, which generated two new absorption bands at 1,250/cm (S=O) and 810/cm (C-O-S) compared to the native. Specially, the anticoagulant activity of barley β-Glucan was created by sulfation, which increased in a concentration-dependent manner. This result demonstrated that the incorporation of sulfate groups into the β-Glucan structure added a blood clotting prevention effect.

Native soy protein isolate (SPI) was hydrolyzed with 4 different proteolytic enzymes, including bromelain, papain, Neutrase, and Flavourzyme. SPI hydrolysates with the degree of hydrolysis (DH) in range of 6 to 15% were prepared by each enzyme. The angiotensin 1 converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory and the antioxidant activities of the SPI hydrolysates, such as superoxide dismutase-like activity and inhibition of the linoleic acid autoxidation, were evaluated. Overall, as the DH increased, all evaluated bioactivities of the SPI hydrolysates significantly increased. The significantly highest ACE inhibitory and antioxidant activities were found in hydrolysates made with papain and bromelain, respectively. SPI hydrolysates by Flavourzyme showed the significantly lowest activity in all tested bioactivities. The results suggested that ACE inhibitory and antioxidant activities of SPI hydrolysates were determined by the DH and by the enzyme used.

The efficacy of citric acid-aqueous chlorine dioxide (CIO2) treatment of radish seeds artificially contaminated with Escherichia coli was studied. Radish seeds were inoculated with E. coli. Following inoculation, samples were stored at 4℃ and soaked in citric acid or aqueous CIO2 for 10 min. The treatment of radish seeds using 200 ppm aqueous CIO2 solution caused a 1.5 log CFU/g reduction in the population of E. coli. Compared to the aqueous CIO2 treatment, soaking radish seeds in 2.0% citric acid solution for 10 min was more effective in reducing E. coli populations on radish seeds. The efficacy of spray application of chlorine (100 ppm) or 0.5% citric acid to eliminate E. coli during the germination and growth of radish was investigated. Radish seed inoculated with E. coli was treated for the duration of the growth period. Although it resulted in a decrease in the E. coli population, the spray application of 100 ppm chlorine during the growth period was not significantly effective. In contrast, the combined treatment of seeds using 200 ppm aqueous CIO2 and treatment of sprouts with 0.5% citric acid solution during sprout growth was hardly effective in eliminating E. coli.

The purpose of this study was to develop a new preparation process for chemical transformation of ginseng saponin glycosides to prosapogenins. Ginseng and ginseng extracts were processed under several treatment conditions using ascorbic acid solution. Treating with ascorbic acid at pH 2-3 and above 80℃ increased the ginsenoside Rg3 content of samples to over 3% as compared to other pH levels and temperatures. In addition, ginseng and ginseng extracts that were processed under a high ascorbic acid solution treatment condition (pH 2.0, 5 hr) contained more ginsenoside Rg3 (approximately 16 times) than those processed under a low ascorbic acid solution treatment condition (pH 3.0, 5 hr). The highest quantity of ginsenoside Rg3 (3.434%) occurred when a sample of fine ginseng root extract (AG2-9) was processed with the ascorbic acid solution at pH 2.0 for 9 hr. However, there was no change in the amount of ginsenoside Rg3 when fine ginseng root extracts were processed with ascorbic acid solution at pH 2.0 for over 9 hr. In conclusion, the results indicated that ascorbic acid treatment of ginseng extracts can produce a level of ginsenoside Rg3 that is over 90-fold the amount found in commercial red ginseng.

Twenty-three fungal strains were isolated from meju that had originated from the Sunchang province, the famous location for making fermented soybean foods in Korea. The restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA (ITS-RFLP) was applied to differentiate the isolated fungal strains. First, the ITS region by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers was amplified and then cleaved the products with different restriction enzymes. Cleavage of the amplified fragments with the restriction enzymes AluI, HaeIII, HhaI, and TaqI revealed extensive polymorphisms. The ITS-RFLP results highly correlated with ITS sequence analysis. All of the 23 fungal strains were classified into 5 groups by ITS-RFLP analysis. Aspergillus oryzae was the major fungal strain isolated from Sunchang meju (12 out of 23), while Aspergillus fumigatus was the next most frequently isolated strain (7 out of 23). In contrast, it was found that Fusarium asiaticum, Aspergillus sydowii, and Arthrinium sp. were the minor fungal strains in meju.

During dongchimi fermentation at 5 and 25℃, the pH lowered slowly and reached 4.03 at 5℃ after 30 days, whereas it lowered dramatically and reached 3.59 at 25℃ after 2 days. The predominant bacteria were Leuconostoc (Leu.) mesenteroides at 25℃ until day 2 which changed into Lactobacillus (Lb.) plantarum at day 3, analyzed by a culture dependent method with partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing, whereas Leu. mesenteroides occupied predominantly at 5℃ until day 7. In a culture-independent method using a polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) with partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing, Lb. algidus was predominant at 5℃ until day 7 and Lb. plantarum occupied predominantly at 25℃ until day 3, which is different from the results of the culture based method, indicating the both methods need to be combined for accuracy. Based on the culture-dependent method, Leu. mesenteroides might be responsible for the early and mid-phase of dongchimi fermentation.