Anti-obesity effects of ginseng and herbal plant mixtures were investigated to develop natural materials for anti-obesity. After inducing obesity with high fat diet for 8 weeks in male SD rats, ginseng and herbal plant mixtures DM1 (ginseng, puer tea, opuntia) and DM2 (ginseng, puer tea) were administrated orally to rats for another 8 weeks. During administration, food efficacy ratio and body weight of rat were measured twice weekly. After administration, body weight, body fat contents, and serum lipid level were estimated for anti-obesity effect and hematological analysis blood level of ALP and ASP was checked for safety. Body weight in rats fed high fat diet was significantly increased. Body weight in obese rats induced by high fat diet was significantly decreased by DM1 and DM2 feedings. The amount of body fat (epididymal, perirenal and visceral fat, brown adipose tissue) was significantly reduced by DM1 and DM2 treatments. The amount of TG, the concentration of leptin in blood plasma, and the concentration of insulin in blood plasma were significantly diminished by DM1 and DM2. Lipid accumulation on liver was reduced in DM2. There were no side effects among all groups according to blood analysis, hematological findings, and body weight. The findings of this study suggest that DM1 and DM2 may be effective materials for anti-obesity through reducing plasma triglyceride and body fats, and also decreasing body weight without side effects.

UV irradiation causes skin-aging involving coarse wrinkles, thickening, dyspigmentation, and rough skin surface. These phenomena in complex skin tissue is controlled with receptor of cell surface growth factor and cytokine receptors. The activation of receptors induces multiple downstream signaling pathways including expression of MMPs (matrix metalloproteinases). This study was aimed to elucidate the mechanism for anti-wrinkle activity of Korean red ginseng, Torilis fructus and Corni fructus mixture (KTNG0345). In this animal study, we have investigated decreasing effects of Korean red ginseng mixture on MMP-3 synthesis through diminishing TNF-α signaling that express MMP-1,-3, and-9. c-Jun and c-fos as a component of transcription factor AP-1 (activator protein-1) were analyzed the expression level using real time PCR and western blotting. c-Jun was decreased dose dependent manner both gene and protein level where as cfos was not changed. In upstream, JNK and PAK was not changed, but p38 was decreased in down stream. MMP-3, final product in this pathway was significantly decreased in dose dependent manner. These results suggest that Korean red ginseng mixture have a anti-wrinkle activity through TNF-α mediated MMPs expression pathway.

:To produce ginsenoside-Rg 3 enriched edible yeast, ginseng steaming effluent (GSE) was used for yeast cultivation in this study. Four kinds of edible yeasts were cultured in sterilized GSE (2% w/v, pH 6.5), without any nutrient, for 48 h at 30 o C, and their growth and ginsenoside compositions were determined. Among the yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed the highest growth in the GSE medium. 267.1 mg of Saccharomyces cerevisiae biomass was produced from 1 g of GSE solid and ginsenoside-Rg 3 contents was determined with 0.033 mg. Saccharomyces cerevisiae also showed the best overall acceptability, with a herbal and fermentative flavor and a slightly bitter taste. From these data, we conclude that Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the excellent strain for production of ginsenoside-Rg 3 enriched edible yeast using GSE. 에 의한