Inhibitory activities of the methanol extract from Triticum aestivum L. sprouts were examined against α-amylase and α-glucosidase. The active constituents of T. aestivum were isolated by chromatographic techniques and identified as γaminobutyric acid and ferulic acid on the basis of IR and NMR. γ-Aminobutyric acid and ferulic acid showed the high inhibitory activities with IC 50 values of 5.4±0.2 and 9.5±0.1 mM against αamylase, and 1.4±0.4 and 4.9±0.3 mM against α-glucosidase. The methoxy group on the hydroxycinnamic acid of ferulic acid derivatives played important functions in the α-amylase and αglucosidase inhibitory activities. Based on the IC 50 values of nitrite-scavenging activity, ferulic acid (98±3.9 µg/mL) was the most effective constituent, followed by γ-aminobutyric acid (182± 4.2 µg/mL), sinapic acid (301±2.7 µg/mL), and p-coumaric acid (454±2.2 µg/mL). These results indicate that γ-aminobutyric acid and ferulic acid could be useful as preventative agents, and possibly therapeutic modalities for the treatment of metabolic diseases.

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The phototactic response of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, to six light-emitting diodes (LEDs) was evaluated, and its response was compared with a commercial luring lamp (BLB). Based on the attraction rate under optimal conditions, green (98.3%) gave the best attractive activity of LEDs, followed by UV (90.0%), red (79.4%), yellow (76.7%), blue (69.4%) and IR (36.7%). P. xylostella showed higher preference to green LED than BLB (86.7%).

The aim of this study was to examine the acaricidal activity of Periploca sepium oil and its active component against Tyrophagus putrescentiae. Based on its 50% lethal dose (LD(50) ) value, P. sepium oil (8.45 μg/cm(2)) was highly active against T. putrescentiae. The active constituent of P. sepium was isolated by chromatographic techniques and identified as 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde. In the comparison with synthetic acaricides, the acaricidal activity of 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde (0.94 μg/cm(2)) against T. putrescentiae was 12.2- and 31.2-fold greater than those of benzyl benzoate (11.45 μg/cm(2)) and N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (29.33 μg/cm(2)), respectively. To establish structure-activity relationships, the acaricidal activities of 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde and its derivatives against T. putrescentiae were determined by using an impregnated fabric disk bioassay. On the basis of LD(50) values, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (0.48 μg/cm(2)) was the most effective against T. putrescentiae, followed by 3-methoxybenzaldehyde (0.82 μg/cm(2)), 2-hydroxy-5-methoxybenzaldehyde (0.92 μg/cm(2)), 2-methoxybenzaldehyde (0.95 μg/cm(2)), 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde (0.97 μg/cm(2)), and 2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde (2.35 μg/cm(2)). These results indicate that the introduction of a hydroxyl and/or methoxy group into the benzaldehyde skeleton increased the acaricidal activity. Therefore, 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde and its derivatives could potentially be used as potent mite control agents.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of Schisandra chinensis on the alcohol fermentation of Korean traditional rice wine 'Yakju', using various methods including alcohol contents, Hunter's color value, organic acid contents, pH value, and sugar contents. The observed results differed according to dosage and fermentation. The S. chinensis Yakju contained various organic acids such as citric, formic, lactic, malic, oxalic acid, shikimic, and succinic acids. In particular, the citric acid contents of S. chinensis Yakju were 9.22, 161.38, 339.28, 458.97, and 634.96 mg/100 mL at doses of 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% (v/v) of S. chinensis, respectively. The pH of S. chinensis Yakju ranges from 4.11 to 3.57 according to the ratio of S. chinensis. As a result, the citric acid content and pH of S. chinensis Yakju were dependent on the concentration of S. chinensis. On the basis of the Redness value, the S. chinensis Yakju after fermentation (5.16) was approximately 1.8 times more effective than that before fermentation (2.86) at the concentration of 20% (v/v) of S. chinensis. However, S. chinensis has little or no influence on the sugar and alcohol contents of Yakju. These results indicated that S. chinensis was more efficient for improvement of quality characteristics of Yakju.