Effect of pulverization on total solid, crude saponin, and acidic polysaccharide contents of dried red ginseng main root were tested. Several particle size samples, including red ginseng main root (non pulverized), 10~40 mesh powder, 40~100 mesh powder, and >100 mesh powder were used in the extraction. The sequential solvent extraction method (1st: 70% EtOH at 70 o C for 12 hr, 2nd: 70% EtOH at 70 o C for 12 hr, 3rd: water at 70 o C for 12 hr) was applied to extract the saponins and acidic polysaccharide. Extraction yield of total solid of pulverized red ginseng (10~40 mesh size) was increased to 20% compared with that of non-pulverized. Especially, the crude saponin content of pulverized red ginseng (10~40 mesh size) showed an increase of 47% over non-pulverized. No difference in the component ratio was observed by pulverization, when the individual ginsenosides were quantified by HPLC. Also, extraction yield of acidic polysaccharide of pulverized red ginseng (10~40 mesh size) was increased 57% compared with that of non-pulverized. The results suggested that pulverization might be useful for increasing the extraction yield of red ginseng components.

Lactic acid bacteria were selected on the basis of lactic acid producing ability from kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented food. Among the initial screening of over 150 strains selected from the sample, 27 strains were selected as lactic acid producing bacteria, and 4 strains were finally selected based on their ability to produce relatively high levels of lactic acid. The four strains were identified as Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum Gk04, Pediococcus pentosaceus Gk07, L. brevis Gk35 and L. curvatus Gk36 by the conventional morphological, cultural, physiological and biochemical characteristics, as well as by 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Among the identified lactic acid bacteria, L. curvatus Gk36 was used for soymilk fermentation. The viable cell counts and acidity values measured for the L. curvatus Gk36 were comparable to the commmercial L. acidopillus. Thus, the L. curvatus Gk36 is a potential probiotic strain to prepare fermented soy products, such as kephir, yogurt, tempeh and soy sauce.

: This study was conducted to produce a new red ginseng by steaming ginseng using a new pre-treatment method, so as to develop ginseng products with improved flavor and thereby expand ginseng's consumer base. The color parameters (Hunter value), free sugar contents, and ginsenoside contents of the powder from the dried red ginseng, and the sensory test of the semi-dried red ginseng and the decoction from the dried red ginseng, were measured to investigate the effect of acid (ascorbic acid or citric acid) impregnation pre-treatment on red ginseng. The powder from the acid-pretreated red ginseng became lighter and more yellow than the red ginseng that was not pre-treated, but the redness (avalue) of the powder from the acid-pre-treated red ginseng increased. The ginsenoside contents of Rg 2 +Rh 1 and Rg 3 increased with the acid treatment. There was a significant difference in the color and sweetness of the semi-dried acidtreated and non-treated red ginsengs in the sensory test. As the results of the sensory test were expressed in the hedonic scale, however, there were significant differences in the degrees of bitterness, astringency, sourness, odor, and color of the red ginseng decollation. Especially, the acid-treated red ginseng extract tasted less bitter, which shows the potential of new red ginseng products with improved ginseng flavor.

No abstract

The changes that would occur in a content of five phenolic ingredients and eight ginsenosides in acid-treatedred ginseng extracts were measured in this study. Acid-treated-red ginseng was prepared by treating with 1 M ascorbic acid or citric acid for 20 min. As a result, the contents of esculetin and quercetin in citric acid-treated-red ginseng increased by 3.5 times and 2.0 times, respectively, compared with control red ginseng. However, all phenolic ingredients decreased after treatment with ascorbic acid. In addition, the contents of ginsenoside Rg 3 , Rh 2 , Rd increased but those of Rb 1 , Rc, Re, Rf, Rg 1 decreased after acid treatment. Although these tendency of results are similar, the rate of change of ginsenosides in citric acid-treated-red ginseng was higher than in ascorbic acid-treated-red ginseng. These results indicated that citric acid is more effective in the conversion of ginseng ingredients than ascorbic acid.