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Functional food ingredients from natural sources are gaining popularity for treating chronic inflammation associated with metabolic diseases (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, and obesity) due to their lower toxicity and no severe side effects. Pigmented rice is a natural food source in Korea commonly consumed in the whole grain form to improve the immune system. In particular, pigmented rice bran contains various nutritional components involved in the immune benefits. Of many nutrients in pigmented rice bran, anthocyanins, gamma-oryzanol, and arabinoxylan have notably shown to enhance natural killer cell activity and reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines. Especially, pigmented rice has higher amounts of anthocyanins and gamma-oryzanol than white rice. In this review, to provide further insight into the immune effects of the pigmented rice, we have focused on the immune benefits of bioactive substances (e.g., anthocyanins, gamma-oryzanol, and arabinoxylan) from pigmented rice compared to white rice. The pigmented rice has potential effects on immunity, and it can be used as a functional food.

A wide variety of plant raw materials thought to promote health are used as herbal medicines as well as foods. However, there is no legal maximum or minimum concentration limit on any herbal compound when these plant raw materials are used in processed foods. Legally, these processed foods are regulated only for harmful substances, and there is no other guarantee of their contents. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the concentrations of 12 herbal compounds (nodakenin, decursin, decursinol angelate, morroniside, loganin, glycyrrhizic acid, liquiritigenin, puerarin, daidzin, schisandrin, gomisin A, gomisin N) in commonly used plant raw materials, such as "Angelica Gigas root", "Cornus Fruit", "Liquorice Root", "Pueraria Root", and "Schisandra Fruit"; and also in 45 processed foods, using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Method validation was performed successfully using the parameters of specificity, linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), accuracy, precision, matrix effect, extraction recovery, and stability. The 12 herbal compounds were determined to be present in all the foods advertised as containing each ingredient, although in very low concentrations in some cases. Three solid samples labelled as 100% pure material from one herbal species also contained herbal compounds found in others, so that intentional or unintentional adulteration was suspected.

Food fraud, including adulteration, addition, tampering, and misrepresentation of food ingredients and packaging for improper economic profit, has been global concerns affecting public health and safety. In South Korea, counterfeit expression of solar salt has been a problem causing improper economic profit, especially for those products produced from China, but labeled as ‘domestics’. In this study, we were tried to discriminate geographical origins of solar salt between South Korea and China through various analytical techniques, the determination of moisture and sodium chloride contents, multi-elemental analysis, and isotope analysis. With the application of a statistical analysis, more than 93.3% of discrimination capability of positive classification was achieved in this study.

Garlic is widely cultivated and frequently used as a spice in South Korea, due to its characteristic flavor. It is rich in sulfur-containing compounds (for example, allicin) and nonsulfur elements (for example, phosphorus and potassium). During the last few years, the cultivation area of garlic in South Korea has gradually decreased, one of the reasons being the increase in low-priced imported garlic from China. Several studies have reported the discrimination of foods originating from different geographical areas by analyzing their physicochemical properties using various statistical methods. In this study, the differentiation of geographical origin of garlic between South Korea (60 samples) and China (41 samples) was performed by analyzing their physicochemical properties (for example, pH, soluble solid, moisture, free sugars, mineral elements, total flavonoid, and total phenolic contents) combined with statistical methods. The significant difference between domestic garlic from South Korea and imported garlic from China was investigated in terms of pH, moisture content, total flavonoid content, and all trace minerals except for manganese and magnesium. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the geographical origin (South Korea or China) of garlic after selecting the appropriate independent variables. As a result, the calculated logistic regression equation from the analysis of copper, iron, phosphorus, zinc, and sucrose contents could be used to determine whether the geographical origin of garlic was South Korea or China. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Despite being widely used in South Korea, the cultivation area of garlic in South Korea has gradually decreased over the last few years. One of the reasons is the increase in low-priced imported garlic from China. To discriminate the geographical origin of garlic between South Korea and China, analyzed physicochemical properties (that is, Cu, Fe, P, Zn, and sucrose contents) of garlic in combination with logistic regression analysis can be helpful for scientists working on food forensics. This discrimination technique can help to maintain the quality of garlic and prevent economic fraud by confirming the authenticity of garlic from South Korea.

Fluorescent nanohybrid materials, europium(III) complex intercalated Na+-smectite clay minerals (synthetic hectorite and natural montmorillonite), have been developed to visualize latent fingerprints. The guest europium(III) complex ([EuCl2(Phen)2(H2O)2]Cl·H2O) was obtained by simple complex reaction between europium chloride hexahydrate (EuCl3·6H2O) and 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) as a 1:2 molar ratio of Eu3 + ion to ligand molecules. The intercalated nanohybrids ([Eu(Phen)2]3 +-clay minerals) were obtained through ion exchange reaction of interlayer sodium cation with europium complex ion. Guest europium(III) complex and [Eu(Phen)2]3 +-clay mineral hybrids were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), elemental analysis, UV–visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. The intercalated complex maintains a characteristic red 5D0–7F2 emission at wavelength 617 nm, which is comparable to that of the free complex. The 5D0–7F2 emission intensity of [Eu(Phen)2]3 +-laponite was ca. 3.5 times higher than that of [Eu(Phen)2]3 +-montmorillonite, due to the presence of quenching impurities in natural montmorillonite itself. Fingerprint residues on glass slides were harvested by using [Eu(Phen)2]3 +-clay mineral powders, resulting in good definition for enhanced latent fingerprint detection. Particularly, [Eu(Phen)2]3 +-hectorite hybrid powder was more clearly separated from the background compared to the montmorillonite hybrid powder.