Comparative Analysis of the Antioxidant Activities of Green Peppers Cultivated under Conventional and Environmental-Friendly Farming conditions

Choi, Jang-Yeol,Choi, Yeo-Jin,Lee, Seong-Gene The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture 2010 한국환경농학회지 Vol.29 No.1

Environmental-friendly agriculture (EFA) is defined as the cultivation of crops with reduced amounts or without chemical-synthetic pesticides. Recently, the use of chemical pesticides has decreased significantly; therefore, we cultivated peppers following EFA- and conventional methods and compared their antioxidant activities. To accomplish this, the environmental-friendly cultivated peppers (EFPE) and conventionally cultivated peppers (CCPE) were extracted with 70% methanol and the effects of the extracts on the cell viability, intracellular ROS generation, lipid peroxidation and catalase activity of HepG2 cells were evaluated. EFPE showed a stronger protective effect against oxidative stress induced-cell death than that of CCPE. EFPE also reduced intracellular ROS generation (42.7% to 26.4%) following treatment with hydrogen peroxide more effectively than that of CCPE (24.2% to 6.3%). Furthermore, EFPE and CCPE showed protective effects against lipid peroxidation and induced catalase activity, although these effects were not statistically significant. Taken together, these results suggest that EFPE showed stronger antioxidant activities than CCPE, and thus represent evidence that EFA with biocontrol materials may improve the functional properties of crops and/or secondary metabolites with antioxidant activities when compared with conventional agricultural practices.

Consequences of Water Induced Disasters to Livelihood Activities in Nepal

Gurung, Anup,Karki, Arpana,Karki, Rahul,Bista, Rajesh,Oh, Sang-Eun The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture 2012 한국환경농학회지 Vol.31 No.2

BACKGROUND: The changes in the climatic conditions have brought potentially significant new challenges, most critical are likely to be its impact on local livelihoods, agriculture, biodiversity and environments. Water induced disasters such as landslides, floods, erratic rain etc., are very common in developing countries which lead to changes in biological, geophysical and socioeconomic elements. The extent of damages caused by natural disasters is more sever in least developing countries. However, disasters affect women and men differently. In most of the cases women have to carry more burden as compared to their male counterpart during the period of disasters. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study examines the impact of disasters on the local livelihood especially agriculture and income generating activities of women in three districts of Nepal. The study uses the primary data collected following an exploratory approach, based on an intensive field study. The general findings of the study revealed that women had to experience hard time as compared to their male counterpart both during and after the disaster happen. Women are responsible for caring their children, collecting firewood, fetching water, collecting grass for livestock and performing household chores. Whereas, men are mainly involved in out-migration and remained out-side home most of the time. After the disaster occurred, most of the women had to struggle to support their lives as well as had to work longer hours than men during reconstruction period. Nepal follows patriarchal system and men can afford more leisure time as compared to women. During the disaster period, some of the households lost their agricultural lands, livestock and other properties. These losses created some additional workload to women respondent, however at the same time; they learn to build confidence, self-respect, self-esteem, and self-dependency.Although Nepal is predominantly agriculture, majority of the farmers are at subsistence level. In addition, men and women have different roles which differ with the variation in agro-production systems. Moreover women are extensively involved in agricultural activities though their importances were not recognized. Denial of land ownership and denial of access to resources as well as migration of male counterparts are some of the major reasons for affecting the agricultural environments for women in Nepal. CONCLUSION: The shelter reconstruction program has definitely brought positive change in women's access to decision making. The gradual increase in number of women respondent in access to decision making in different areas is a positive change and this has also provided them with a unique opportunity to change their gendered status in society.Furthermore, the exodus out-flow of male counterparts accelerated the additional burden and workload on women.

Environmental Risk Assessment of Polyhexamethyleneguanidine Phosphate by Soil Adsorption/Desorption Coefficient

Chang, Hee-Ra,Yang, Kyung-Wook,Kim, Yong-Hwa The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture 2006 한국환경농학회지 Vol.25 No.4

This study was performed to determine the adsorption-desorption characteristics of polyhexame-thyleneguanidine phosphate in three different soil types of textural classification. Adsorption and desorption studies is impotent for prediction their fate and generating essential information on the mobility of chemicals and their distribution in the soil, water and air of our biosphere. The detection limit of the test substance quantified by a spectroscopic method using Eosin indicator was $0.25{\mu}g/mL$. The reproducibility of analytical method was confirmed by the preliminary test. The concentrations of polyhexamethylenequanidine phosphate in aqueous solution were $1.36{\pm}0.09,\;2.45{\pm}0.01,\;and\;$4.25{\pm}0.05{\mu}g/mL$ by a spectroscopic method using Eosin indicator. The adsorption percents of polyhexamethylenequanidine phosphate in soil were greater than 95.2% for all three test soils. The desorption percents from the adsorbed soil were less than 4.5, 4.7 and 4.7%. Therefore, the adsorption coefficient (K) were greater than 110, 111 and 116. The adsorption coefficient calculated as a function of the organic carbon content (Koc) of the test soils were greater than 9,181, 11,100, and 8,942, respectively. Therefore, the test substance, polyhexamethylenequanidine phosphate could be concluded as medium or high adsorption (>25%) and poorly desorption (<75%) in soil media. Therefore, this chemical is likely to be retained in soil media and may not pose a risk in the aquatic environment.

Determination of Dimethyl Disulfide, Diallyl Disulfide, and Diallyl Trisulfide in Biopesticides Containing Allium Sativum Extract by Gas Chromatography

Lim, Sung-Jin,Lee, Ji-Hye,Kim, Jin-Hyo,Cho, Geun-Hyoung,Cho, Nam-Jun,Park, Byung-Jun The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture 2014 한국환경농학회지 Vol.33 No.4

BACKGROUND: Garlic (Allium sativum) extract has been allowed as commercial biopesticide material for pesticidal activity in the Environmentally-friendly Agriculture Promotion Act. Nine commercial biopesticides containing A. sativum extract have been marketed in Korea. However, the analytical method of the active substances in these materials has not been studied. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cartridge clean-up method for the determination of dimethyl disulfide(DMDS), diallyl disulfide(DADS), and diallyl trisulfide(DATS) in biopesticides containing A. sativum extract was developed and validated by gas chromatography(GC). The clean-up method was optimized using hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB) solid phase extraction(SPE) cartridges for the bioactive sulfides in biopesticides containing A. sativum extract, and the eluate was analyzed to quantify the DMDS, DADS, and DATS using the GC. The developed method was validated, and the LOQ and recovery rates of DMDS, DADS, and DATS were 0.226, 0.063, and $0.051mg\;L^{-1}$ and 80.6, 84.8, and 73.1%, respectively. From the nine commercial biopesticide samples, contents of DMDS, DADS, and DATS were analyzed using the developed method and results showed <LOQ, <LOQ-113.4, and <LOQ-$2.3mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. CONCLUSION: The developed method could be used in determining the quality of biopesticides for the manufacture of commercial biopesticides containing A. sativum extract.

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Content Changes in Paddy Soil and Water As Affected by Organic Fertilizer Application

Lee, Kyung-Do,Lee, Kyeong-Bo,Gil, Geun-Hwan,Song, In-hong,Kang, Jong-Gook,Hwang, Seon-Woong The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture 2011 한국환경농학회지 Vol.30 No.1

BACKGROUND: With increasing public awareness to environment-friendly agriculture, many efforts have been run to develop organic farming technologies in Korea as of late 90s. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different organic farming practices on soil chemical properties and water quality in paddy fields. METHODS AND RESULTS: Total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were monitored for a two-year period (2006 to 2007) from the study organic paddy fields located in Wan-ju, Jeonbuk Province in Korea. TN and TP of organic paddy water were gradually increased for 2~3 weeks after organic manure application and then gradually decreased afterward. The overall variation of TP in the paddy fields was much greater than that of TN. The phosphorus content in organic paddy field appeared to increase with the organic farming period. CONCLUSION(s): This indicates that long-term organic farming is likely to cause phosphorus accumulation in soils and increase vulnerability to rainfall runoff. Thus, appropriate phosphorus management needs to be implemented, particularly, to reduce excessive phosphorus supply owing to nitrogen-based determination of organic manure application amount.

Antibacterial Effects of Extracts of Thuja Orientalis cv Aurea Nana Cones against Food-spoilage and Food-borne Pathogens

Yang, Xiao Nan,Hwang, Cher-Won,Kwon, Gi-Seok,Kang, Sun-Chul The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture 2011 한국환경농학회지 Vol.30 No.4

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, Chemical antiseptics have become great problems for health and environmental, so that developing of new substitutes for chemical antiseptics is more and more important. Natural product is a kind of environment-friendly additive that could be used as antiseptic in food industry. Thuja orientalis cv Aurea Nana is a gymnospermous plant of the family Cupressaceae, native to northwestern China and widely naturalised elsewhere in Korea and Japan. This study was aimed to investigate the antibacterial potential of various organic extracts from T. orientalis cones against some food-borne and food-spoilage bacteria. METHODS AND RESULTS: Hexane extract (HE), chloroform extract (CE), ethyl acetate extract (EAE) and methanol extract (ME) were obtained from female cones of T. orientalis. The antibacterial activities of various extracts were tested by standard agar diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against five gram-positive and six gram-negative bacteria. Cell viability and morphology change of L. monocytogenes ATCC 10943 treated with hexane extract were also observed. The various extracts displayed remarkable antibacterial effects against all the gram-positive bacteria but did not show any effect against the gram-negative bacteria. Hexane extract has the highest inhibitory effect on cell viability of L. monocytogenes ATCC 10943. SEM observation also demonstrated the damaging effect of the hexane extract on the morphology of L. monocytogenes ATCC 10943 at the minimum inhibitory concentration. CONCLUSION(s): The tested gram-positive bacteria were significantly inhibited by organic extracts of T. orientalis cone. Hexane extract was the most potent against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 10943, as evidenced by the lowest MIC level and the complete inhibition of cell viability within shortest exposure time, along with SEM observation.

Characterization and Antifungal Activity from Soilborne Streptomyces sp. AM50 towards Major Plant Pathogens

Jang, Jong-Ok,Lee, Jung-Bok,Kim, Beam-Soo,Kang, Sun-Chul,Hwang, Cher-Won,Shin, Kee-Sun,Kwon, Gi-Seok The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture 2011 한국환경농학회지 Vol.30 No.3

BACKGROUND: Chemical fungicides not only may pollute the ecosystem but also can be environmentally hazardous, as the chemicals accumulate in soil. Biological control is a frequently-used environment-friendly alternative to chemical pesticides in phytopathogen management. However, the use of microbial products as fungicides has limitations. This study isolated and characterized a three-antifungal-enzyme (chitinase, cellulase, and ${\beta}$-1,3-glucanase)-producing bacterium, and examined the conditions required to optimize the production of the antifungal enzymes. METHOD AND RESULTS: The antifungal enzymes chitinase, cellulase, and ${\beta}$-1,3-glucanase were produced by bacteria isolated from an sawmill in Korea. Based on the 16S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis, the bacterial strain AM50 was identical to Streptomyces sp. And their antifungal activity was optimized when Streptomyces sp. AM50 was grown aerobically in a medium composed of 0.4% chitin, 0.4% starch, 0.2% ammonium sulfate, 0.11% $Na_2HPO_4$, 0.07% $KH_2PO_4$, 0.0001% $MgSO_4$, and 0.0001% $MnSO_4$ at $30^{\circ}C$. A culture broth of Streptomyces sp. AM50 showed antifungal activity towards the hyphae of plant pathogenic fungi, including hyphae swelling and lysis in P. capsici, factors that may contribute to its suppression of plant pathogenic fungi. CONCLUSION(S): This study demonstrated the multiantifungal enzyme production by Streptomyces sp. AM50 for the biological control of major plant pathogens. Further studies will investigate the synergistic effect, to the growth regulations by biogenic amines and antifungal enzyme gene promoter.

Quantitative Proteomics Towards Understanding Life and Environment

Choi, Jong-Soon,Chung, Keun-Yook,Woo, Sun-Hee The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture 2006 한국환경농학회지 Vol.25 No.4

New proteomic techniques have been pioneered extensively in recent years, enabling the high-throughput and systematic analyses of cellular proteins in combination with bioinformatic tools. Furthermore, the development of such novel proteomic techniques facilitates the elucidation of the functions of proteins under stress or disease conditions, resulting in the discovery of biomarkers for responses to environmental stimuli. The ultimate objective of proteomics is targeted toward the entire proteome of life, subcellular localization biochemical activities, and the regulation thereof. Comprehensive analysis strategies of proteomics can be classified into three categories: (i) protein separation via 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) or liquid chromatography (LC), (ii) protein identification via either Edman sequencing or mass spectrometry (MS), and (iii) proteome quantitation. Currently, MS-based proteomics techniques have shifted from qualitative proteome analysis via 2-DE or 2D-LC coupled with off-line matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and on-line electrospray ionization (ESI) MS, respectively, toward quantitative proteome analysis. In vitro quantitative proteomic techniques include differential gel electrophoresis with fluorescence dyes. protein-labeling tagging with isotope-coded affinity tags, and peptide-labeling tagging with isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation. In addition, stable isotope-labeled amino acids can be in vivo labeled into live culture cells via metabolic incorporation. MS-based proteomics techniques extend to the detection of the phosphopeptide mapping of biologically crucial proteins, which ale associated with post-translational modification. These complementary proteomic techniques contribute to our current understanding of the manner in which life responds to differing environment.

Actual Conditions and Alternative Materials for the Pesticides containing Persistent Organic Pollutants in South Korea

Lim, Young-Wook,Kim, Ho-Hyun,Lee, Jun-Sang,Roh, Young-Man,Lee, Gee-Young,Jung, Hae-Woong,Lee, Jae-Young The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture 2008 한국환경농학회지 Vol.27 No.3

A global binding agreement was adopted with the leading of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on May 22, 2001 in Stockholm to regulate the production and distribution on persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The agreement took effectuation with the ratification of 59 countries from the approval of 151 countries on May 17, 2004. After the approval on October 4, 2001, South Korea performed systematical investigation on POP-related substances such as chlordane, dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), hexachlorobenzenes (HCB), heptachlor, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to get ready for the ratification of the convention with country-specific exemption. The domestic distributions of those chemical substances have been officially prohibited since the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Although there were occasional reports for the detection of some of those chemical substances, those performed minute signification in their existence in the environment. A series of investigation with documentary examination and fact-finding survey showed the possibility for the ratification on the convention without country-specific exemption.

Control of Green Peach Aphid (Myzus Persicae) by Combination of Plant Oil Formulations and Low-dosed Imidacloprid

Yang, You Ri,Kim, Seon-Hwa,Park, Myung-Ryeol,Kim, Ik-Soo,Kim, In-Seon The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture 2010 한국환경농학회지 Vol.29 No.3

Aphids are one of the major pests in agricultural crops. A number of synthetic pesticides have been used for control of aphids in agriculture, but increasing public concerns over their adverse effects on the environment have required more environmentally-friendly methods for pest management. In this study, we examined plant oil formulations for the control of green peach aphid (Myzus persicae). Oil formulations were prepared by hydrolyzing the plant oils in ethanolic KOH solution and diluted at the rate of 1:500 for aphid control. The oil formulations showed aphid mortalities ranging from 24.44 to 43.33% in vitro. Significantly increased aphid mortalities were observed by the treatment of oil formulations combined with low-dosed imidacloprid. No significant difference in the aphid mortality was observed between the oil formulations. Mass spectrometry analyses of aphids treated with the low dosedimidacloprid plus the plant oil formulations detected similar concentrations of imidacloprid between the treatments. In field trial bioassays against aphids, significantly decreased aphid population were observed in the pepper plants treated with soybean oil formulation combined with the low-dosed imidacloprid, while aphid population dramatically increased in the pepper plants treated with the low-dosed imidacloprid alone. These results suggested that the plant oil formulations can be used as an environmentally-friendly method for enhancing the insecticidal effectiveness, which may play a role in reducing the use of synthetic pesticide in agriculture.