Few studies have investigated Seomae mugwort (a Korean native mugwort variety of Artemisia argyi H. Lév. & Vaniot), exclusively cultivated in the southern Korean peninsula, and the possibility of its use as a food resource. In the present study, we compared the nutritional and chemical properties as well as sensory attributes of Seomae mugwort and the commonly consumed species Artemisia princeps Pamp. In comparison with A. princeps, Seomae mugwort had higher contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids, total phenolic compounds, vitamin C, and essential amino acids. In addition, Seomae mugwort had better radical scavenging activity and more diverse volatile compounds than A. princeps as well as favorable sensory attributes when consumed as tea. Given that scant information is available regarding the Seomae mugwort and its biological, chemical, and sensory characteristics, the results herein may provide important characterization data for further industrial and research applications of this mugwort variety.

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The aim of this work was to compare the performances and nutritional characteristics of peanut oil to common frying oils during repetitive frying. The peanut oil had the highest color stability, the lowest initial, and final total polar compounds (TPC) levels among all other oil samples throughout the frying of potato slices. The TPC levels increased in all oils over the course of frying, being impacted more by the initial quality rather than the type of oils. In tocopherol analysis, as a consequence of frying, ctocopherol decreased most among the other six tocopherol isomers. Owing to the lack of data on the repetitive frying of peanut oil, this work provides basic information for peanut oil to use for frying purposes.

The fatty acid and volatile compound compositions of camellia oil were analyzed in this study. The impacts of the replacement of conventional vegetable oil with camellia oil on the sensory attributes of dried seaweed were also determined. C18:1 (83.59%), followed by C16:0 and C18:2, were the most abundant fatty acids in camellia oil. A total of 11 and 32 volatile compounds were identified in camellia oil and sesame oil, respectively. In the preference test, the camellia oil samples received a higher, although insignificant, liking rating in overall acceptability of appearance. Overall, there were no differences between the sensory attributes of camellia oil and sesame oil. This finding, combined with the unique fatty acid composition, thermal stability, and health benefits of camellia oil indicate that further study into the use of camellia oil in foods is warranted.

Complete fatty acid profile and major phytosterols of nearly all commercially available vegetable oils, obtained from local grocery stores in South Korea, were analyzed (n = 15). Subsequently, the contribution of specific oil components to antioxidative effects, measured using conventional 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2',7'-dichlorofluorescindiacetate (DCF-DA) assays, was assessed via principal component analysis (PCA). The rat pheochromocytoma cell line was used for the DCF-DA analysis. One of the phytosterols (i.e., β-sitosterol) was positively correlated with DPPH and negatively correlated with the intracellular oxidative levels of neuronal cells, measured by DCF-DA. In addition, through the comparison between loading plot and score plot, groups of oils with similar properties were identified and their associations and unforeseen factors were elucidated by virtue of PCA. Taken together, the results herein suggest that the combination of chromatographic analysis and multivariate analysis could be a useful method to elucidate the role of responsible nutrients as well as associated similarities (or dissimilarities) of sample characteristics in biological outcomes.