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Among 116 bacterial strains isolated from Korean fermented foods, one strain (SS-76) was selected for producing new oligosaccharides in a basal medium containing maltose as the sole source of carbon. Upon morphological characterization using scanning electron microscopy, the cells of strain SS-76 appeared rod-shaped; subsequent 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain SS-76 was phylogenetically close to Bacillus subtilis. The main oligosaccharide fraction B extracted from the culture supernatant of B. subtilis SS-76 was purified by high performance liquid chromatography. Subsequent structural analysis revealed that this oligosaccharide consisted only of glucose, and methylation analysis indicated similar proportions of glucopyranosides in the 6-linkage, 4-linkage, and non-reducing terminal positions. Matrix-assisted laser-induced/ionization time-of-flight/mass spectrometry and electrospray ionization-based liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry analyses suggested that this oligosaccharide consisted of a trisaccharide unit with 1,6- and 1,4-glycosidic linkages. The anomeric signals in the (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum corresponded to α-anomeric configurations, and the trisaccharide was finally identified as panose (α-D-glucopyranosyl-1,6-α-D-glucopyranosyl-1,4-D-glucose). These results suggest that B. subtilis SS-76 converts maltose into panose; strain SS-76 may thus find industrial application in the production of panose.

Trifoliate orange seed extracts (TSEs) were made using either distilled water (TW), ethanol (TE), or n-hexane (TH), to measure total polyphenol contents, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities, and anti-complementary activity. The results showed that the total polyphenol content showed higher value at TE (235.24 μg/mL, pTW (56.87%)>TH (39.78%). The results of ABTS radical scavenging activity showed that TW (34.26%) and TE (31.81%) showed similar activities, which were higher than TH (12.74%, p

Recently, we found that Arthrobacter crystallopoietes N-08 isolated from soil directly produces trehalose from maltose by a resting cell reaction. In this study, the optimal set of conditions and substrate specificity for the trehalose production using resting cells was investigated. Optimum temperature and pH of the resting cell reaction were 55℃ and pH 5.5, respectively, and the reaction was stable for two hours at 37～55℃ and for one hour at the wide pH ranges of 3～9. Various disaccharide substrates with different glycosidic linkages, such as maltose, isomaltose, cellobiose, nigerose, sophorose, and laminaribiose, were converted into trehalose-like spots in thin layer chromatography (TLC). These results indicated broad substrate specificity of this reaction and the possibility that cellobiose could be converted into other trehalose anomers such as α,β- and -trehalose. Therefore, the product after the resting cell reaction with cellobiose was purified by -glucosidase treatment and Dowex-1 (OH?) column chromatography and its structure was analyzed. Component sugar and methylation analyses indicated that this cellobiose-conversion product was composed of only non-reducing terminal glucopyranoside. MALDI-TOF and ESI-MS/MS analyses suggested that this oligosaccharide contained a non-reducing disaccharide unit with a 1,1-glucosidic linkage. When this disaccharide was analyzed by ¹H-NMR and 13 C-NMR, it gave the same signals with α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1,1)-α-D-glucopyranoside. These results suggest that cellobiose can be converted to α,α-trehalose by the resting cells of A. crystallopoietes N-08.

In this study, we optimized the reaction conditions for the bioconversion of green tea using tannase, and to evaluate its radical scavenging activities. Tea catechins such as (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) or (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG) were hydrolyzed by tannase to produce (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC) or (-)-epicatechin (EC), respectively, and a common product, gallic acid. The bioconversion of tea catechins by tannase was increased as enzyme concentration, substrate concentration and incubation time for enzyme dose. The results indicated the optimum reaction conditions for tannase were tannase 30 U/mL (enzyme concentration) on 1% green tea (substrate concentration) for 1 hr (incubation time for enzyme). Tannase enhanced the radical-scavenging properties of green tea; the 2,2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals scavenging abilities were significantly (p

To characterize the polysaccharides which exist as soluble forms in Korean traditional alcoholic beverages, the polysaccharides were isolated from Korean pear wine and their anti-complementary activities were examined. The main polysaccharide, PW-1 was purified to homogeneity from the crude polysaccharide (PW-0) in pear wine by size exclusion chromatography using Sephadex G-75. Molecular mass of PW-1 was estimated to be 150 kDa and it contained significant proportion of mannose (81.8%) and 5 different minor component sugars such as arabinose (1.2%), galactose (2.7%), glucose (8.5%), galacturonic acid (5.3%) and glucuronic acid (0.5%). These analyses indicated that the main polysaccharide in pear wine was mainly present as a mannan which had originated from the cell walls of fermenting yeasts. On the other hand, PW-1 showed potent anti-complementary activity in a dose-dependent fashion. Identification of C3 activation products by the crossed immunoelectrophoresis using anti-human C3 and anti-complementary activity of PW-1 in -free condition suggested complement activations by PW-1 from Korean pear wine occur via both classical and alternative pathways.

This study was conducted to isolate strain for the preparation of fermented antler (Cervus cornu parvum) and evaluate its physiological activities. The growth degrees of twenty-one samples from Bacillus sp., Lactobacillius sp. and mushroom strain on antler extract agar were evaluated in this study, and Bacillus subtilis KH-15, SCB-3, Cordyceps militaris, Phellinus linteus, Inonotus obliquus 26136, and Inonotus obliquus 26147 were selected. The fermented antler extract by C. militaris had relatively higher contents of total sugar (1619.3 /mL), uronic acid (302.0 /mL), sulfated-glycosaminoglycan (S-GAGs) (119.9 /mL) and sialic acid (21.6 /mL) than any other extracts. The anti-complementary activities of all fermented antler extracts were higher than non-fermented antler extract, and among these samples, fermented antler extract by C. militaris showed the highest anti-complementary activity (inhibition of 50% total complement hemolysis, ; 50.1% at 1,000 /mL). The ability of fermented antler extract by B. subtilis KH-15 to scavenge 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical (; 4.97 mg/mL) was significantly the highest (p; 16.98 mg/mL) among all samples. The results of this study suggest that physiological effects including immuno-modulating and antioxidant activities of the antler may be increased through fermentation process.

The principal objective of this study was to assess the radical scavenging activities and total polyphenols, flavonoids, and flavonol contents of takju, a Korean traditional rice wine. The antioxidant properties of the wine and takju samples were evaluated using five distinct assays: specifically, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azino-di-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS); hydroxyl; superoxide anion; and nitric oxide (NO) radical-scavenging activity assays. In this study, the takju evidenced strong scavenging activities against the hydroxyl, superoxide anion, and NO radicals. Furthermore, the total polyphenol contents of T-2 were similar to those previously observed in white wine (p＜0.05). However, the flavonoids and flavonol contents of all takju samples were significantly (p＜0.05) lower than that of white wine. The results of this study show that takju possesses a powerful radical scavenging activity against a variety of oxidative systems. The findings of this study also indicate that takju should be considered a useful antioxidant, and that their functional compound reduces oxidative stress.

We extracted red ginseng with various alcohol concentrations and evaluated total carbohydrate, uronic acid, polyphenols compounds and ginsenoside contents, and yields of alcohol extract. The water extraction (0% alcohol extraction) showed a high level of total carbohydrate content. 10% and 20% alcohol extraction showed the highest uronic acid contents (7,978.8 and 7,872.7 ㎍/mL of extract, respectively). The efficiency order of the red ginseng extract (RGE) preparations in liberating polyphenols was: 0～50% alcohol≥ 60% alcohol ＞ 70～90% alcohol. Solid contents in RGE were decreased with increased alcohol concentration; the same tendency as with the results of total carbohydrate content. Total ginsenoside contents in 20～50% alcohol extracts showed similar levels (42,962.9～47,930.8 ㎍/mL of extract). Water extraction showed the lowest ginsenoside content (14,509.4 ㎍/mL of extract). The ginsenoside contents at above 60% alcohol were decreased with increased alcohol concentration. Generally, ginsenoside (Rg2, Rg1, Rf, Re, Rd, Rb2, Rc and Rb1) contents were increased with increased alcohol concentrations. However, Rg3 content was decreased with increases in alcohol concentration.

Crude polysaccharide fractions of commercially available grape wines (red wine, white wine and wild grape wine) were prepared by evaporation and ethanol precipitation to confirm and identify anti complementary polysaccharides in the wines. When these fractions were evaluated for their anti complementary activity, crude polysaccharide fractions of red wine (RW-0) and wild grape wine (WGW-0) showed higher anti-complementary activities than those of white wine (WW-0). RW-0 and WW-0 were further fractionated into RW-1, WW-1 as high-molecular fractions, and RW-2, WW-2 as low-molecular fractions through gel permeation column chromatography on Sephadex G-75. RW-1 had the most potent activity with the highest carbohydrate content (91.3%). Anti-complementary activity of red wine was higher than that of white wine, suggesting that active polysaccharides such as pectin and hemicellulose are mainly distributed in the grape skin which is removed during white wine making. In addition, high molecular fractions, RW-1 and WW-1 with high contents of carbohydrate and high yields showed higher activities than those of low molecular fractions, RW-2 and WW-2.

In order to evaluate the potential utilization value as a novel probiotic strain, the immunopotentiating activities of the cellular components from Lactobacillus brevis FSB-1 were examined. L. brevis FSB-1 isolated from kimchi were fractionated into the whole cell, cell wall, cytosol and extracellular preparation, and each fraction was examined on intestinal immune system modulating activity in vitro. The cell wall and cytosol preparation showed the relatively high bone marrow cell proliferating activity through Peyer`s patch cell in a dose-dependent manner. But these preparations did not directly stimulate the bone marrow cell proliferation. The whole cell, cell wall and cytosol preparation also induced considerable levels of macrophage activation and mitogenicity of murine splenocytes in vitro. The anti-complementary activity (ITCH_(50)) of the cytosol fraction of L. brevis FSB-1 was the most potent in the cellular components, and the activity showed dose dependency. The complement activation by the cytosol fraction of L. brevis FSB-1 occurs via both alternative and classical pathways, which confirmed by the crossed immunoelectrophoresis using anti-human C3.