• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.508-513
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• 2009

Pine needles have long been used as a traditional health-promoting medicinal food in Korea. To investigate the effects of pine (pinus densiflora) needle extracts on blood flow and serum lipid improvement were assessed in vivo. 8 week-old Sprague Dawley strain rats were divided into four groups of seven rats each; CON, 0.5% CHOL, HOT water and Sub-supercritical group. Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride contents were lower in the CON group than the 0.5% CHOL group. Three weeks of feeding hot water and sub-supercritical extract resulted in a decrease in serum triglyceride and total cholesterol level. The level of HDL-cholesterol in the 0.5% CHOL group was significantly (p<0.05) reduced compared to the CON group, but it had a tendency to increase with pine needle extract supplementation. Blood passage time of the pine needle extracts supplemented group was higher than the 0.5% CHOL group. Microscopic observation showed that whole blood passed smoothly through the micro channels in pine needle extracts supplemented groups. The platelet aggregation ability of the groups treated with pine needle extracts was less than that of the 0.5% CHOL group. All these results suggest that pine needle extracts might improve blood homeostasis mediated via antiplatelet activities.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2009

This study was carried out to evaluate litterfall dynamics in three adjacent coniferous tree plantations (larch: Larix leptolepis; red pine: Pinus densiflora; rigitaeda pine: P. rigitaeda) planted in the same year (1963), and growing under similar environmental conditions in the Sambong Exhibition Forests, Hamyang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. Litter was collected monthly between July 2006 and June 2008. Needle, broad leaf and total litter inputs followed a similar monthly pattern in the three coniferous plantations. The amounts of needles, flowers, and miscellaneous litter were significantly lower in the larch than in the two pine plantations, while branch litter was significantly higher in the larch than in the two pine plantations. Average total litterfall for two years was significantly higher for the pine (5,475 kg $ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$ for red pine and 5,290 kg $ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$ for rigitaeda pine) plantations than for the larch (3,953 kg $ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$ plantation. Needle litter comprised about 73.1% of total litterfall for the rigitaeda pine, 70.8% for the red pine and 62.9% for the larch plantations. Our results demonstrate that litterfall inputs can be affected by tree species.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.72-79
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• 1994

To analyze terpene components, the essentail oil were extracted with steam distillation method from normal needle, damaged needle and pinecone of Pinus densiflora. The extracted essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. The results were summarized as follows; 1. Normal needles involve 43 kinds of terpene components, but damaged needles contained only 29 kinds. The most abundant components of normal and damaged needles were respectable ${\alpha}$-pinene and caryophyllene oxide. ${\alpha}$-pinene content in normal meedles amounted to 15.99 percents and caryophyllene oxide in damaged was 8.15 percents. 2. Pinecone showed 23 kinds of terpene components and among them the most abundant component was ${\beta}$-phellandrene, of which content showed 19.31 percents. 3. In normal needles, excluding ${\alpha}$-pinene, the contents of 8 kinds of other monoterpenes, reached to 48 percents of the total terpenes, 4. In damaged needles, excluding ${\alpha}$-pinene, the contents of 4 kinds of other monoterpenes, reached to 11 percents of the total terpenes. 5. In pinecone, excluding camphene, the contents of 6 kinds of other monoterpenes, reached to 58 percents of the total terpenes.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2011

Volatile components in commercial pine needle (Pinus densiflora S. and Z.) powder were extracted using simultaneous steam distillation and a solvent extraction (SDE) apparatus, and were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 230 compounds divided into 13 groups were identified, which included alcohols (42), ketones (39), aldehydes (32), terpenes (30), alkenes (17), esters (14), furans (14), benzenes (10), alkanes (8), napthalenes (7), acids (6), miscellaneous compounds (6), and phenols (5). Among the 230 compounds identified, 96 compounds were positively confirmed and quantified, and the rest of the compounds were tentatively identified. The major volatile components identified at relatively high levels were dodecanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, hexanal, benzaldehyde, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, 1-penten-3-one, limonene, and $\beta$-caryophyllene oxide. Among the groups, terpenes accounted for 60.18% of the total concentration of all the volatile components. Some volatile components might account for the unique aroma and the biological activity of the sample.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 1987

The forest vegetation of Jongyeoul hill, Seoul, was classified into six secondary forests and two plantations by ZM method; Pinus densiflora, Quercus acutissima, Pinus rigida, Robinia pseudoacacia and Alnus hirsuta-Quercus mongolica community, and Castanea crenata and Pinus koraiensis plantation. In the herb layer the species richness and total coverage of deciduous broad leaf forests showed higher values than those of evergreen needle leaf forests. The peak in July at Q. acutissima forest and in the middle of June at R. pseudoacacia forest. Simpson's diversity index(Ds) in different stands are as follows: Ds>0.6 in R. pseudoacacia forest, Ds=0.3~0.6 in Q. acutissima forest and Ds<0.3 in P. densiflora and P. rigida forest. It is found that, although dominance rank and importance value were originated from different school each other, two measures can be used exchangablym showing almost linear positive correlation between them in this study.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.591-607
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• 2020

This study was aimed to investigate the changes of chemical composition of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from red pine needles in the process of needle abscission or senescence. The VOCs in intact, senescent, and litter red pine needle samples were analyzed by headspace-solid phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC/MS). And then, multivariate statistical interpretation of the processed data sets was conducted to investigate similarities and dissimilarities of the needle samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were used to investigate the dataset structure and discrimination between samples, respectively. From the data preview, the levels of major components of VOCs from needles were not significantly different between needle samples. By PCA investigation, the data reduction according to classification based on the chlorophyll a / chlorophyll b (Ca/Cb) ratio were found to be ideal for differentiating intact, senescent, and litter needles. The following OPLS-DA taking Ca/Cb ratio as y-variables showed that needle samples were well grouped on score plot and had the significant discriminant compounds, respectively. Several compounds had significantly correlated with Ca/Cb ratio in a bivariate correlation analysis. Notably, the litter needles had a higher content of oxidized compounds than the intact needles. In summary, we found that chemical compositions of VOCs between intact, senescent, and litter needles are different each other and several compounds reflect characteristic of needle.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.700-708
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• 2019

To verify the possibility of using resistograph to estimate the age of big old living trees, we selected three Zelkova serrata and seven Pinus densiflora in Goesan. The mean diameters at breast height of Z. serrata and P. densiflora were 102 (92-116) cm and 80 (65-110) cm, respectively. The heights measured from the ground using a resistograph ranged at 1.2-4.3 m and 0.6-1.1 m for Z. serrata and P. Densiflora, respectively. The most appropriate needle speed to determine tree-ring boundaries for measuring ring width was 1500 r/min for both tree species. Alternatively, the suitable feed speeds for Z. serrata and P. densiflora were 50 cm/min and 150 cm/min, respectively. From the measured data, the mean numbers of tree rings of Z. serrata and P. densiflora were 57 (43-68) and 104 (93-124), respectively, and the mean tree-ring widths were 4.27 mm (3.18-5.09 mm) and 2.93 mm (2.32-3.34 mm), respectively. A comparison between the time series of tree-ring widths by resistograph and that from the local master chronologies tallied for the heartwood part. Finally, this study showed that resistograph can be used to estimate tree ages when a local master chronology is available.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.260-265
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• 2004

Volatile components of pine needle(Pinus densiflora S.) were isolated by purge & trap headspace technique and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS). And then volatile components were extracted for 2 hr and 20 hr at the two different temperature settings: room temperature and 60$^{\circ}C$. A total of 61 volatile components were identified by the four different conditions. These compounds are classified into six categories in terms of chemical functionality: 35 hydrocarbons, 16 alcohols, 4 carbonyls, 2 esters, 1 acid and 3 ethers. The major components were ${\alpha}$-pinene(1.5～15.7%), ${\beta}$-myrcene(13.2～15.6%), ${\beta}$-phellandrene(l2.0～16.0%) and cis-3-hexenol(4.0～18.3%). In the comparison of the four extraction conditions, longer extraction can be effective to extract components that have a high boiling point, but proved useless in obtaining low boiling point components. As a result of these experiments under the four different conditions, the 20 hr extraction at room temperature appeared to be the most optimized condition for the analysis of volatile compounds by using the purge & trap headspace technique.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.582-588
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• 2006

The antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the fermentation extract (PFE) and the 50 and 80% ethanol extracts (PE 50, PE 80) of Pinus densiflora pine needles were evaluated. Electron donating ability, superoxide dismutase (SOD) ability, and antimicrobial activity were observed in PFE; those abilities differed in PE 80 and PE 50, depending on the ethanol concentration used for the extraction. PFE had the highest electron donating ability with a value of 92.20%, while PE 80 and PE 50 had values of 74.66 and 53.47%, respectively. For SOD activity, PE 80 exhibited a slightly higher value of 31.11% compared to that of PFE and PE 50, which were 29.65 and 25.43%, respectively. PFE, PE 50, and PE 80 were all found to inhibit bacteria, and the effectiveness of this inhibition was strongly related to the type of extracts used. PFE showed good antimicrobial effects for all of the tested Gram-positive strains and for most of the tested Gram-negative strains. These results suggest that PFE has superior functionality compared to the ethanol extracts (PE 80, PE 50), in terms of antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. On the basis of these results, pine needle fermentation extracts can be used for industrial applications as a functional material.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.175-186
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• 2010

This study was designed to evaluate changes in the terpene composition of 3 types of pines (Pinus densiflora, Pinus thunbergii and Pinus rigida), while decomposing their leaf litter. Needle litters were placed at two different organic layer depths, one on the surface and the other beneath the litter layer. Changes in the terpene composition of this litter were detected using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. Among the monoterpenes acquired from the fresh needles of P. densiflora and P. rigida, $\alpha$-pinene (12.05% and 19.87%, respectively) was the major one, followed by $\beta$-pinene (2.90% and 14.07%). However, from the needles of P. thunbergii, $\beta$-pinene (20.77%) was the major one, followed by $\alpha$-pinene (10.79%). Among the sesquiterpenes detected in P. densiflora, trans-caryophyllene (3.12%) was the highest composition compound, whereas germacrene-D (6.09%) for P. thunbergii and 1,6-cyclodecadiene (7.41%) and endo-1-bourbonanol (7.41%) for P. rigida were the highest content compounds. However, the total amounts of terpenes decreased sharply by 40-85.4% in all three types of pine needle after 90-120 days of the experiment. The concentration of each terpene differed during decomposition, and the majority of compounds disappeared from beneath the litter layer. It was determined that three types of reducing patterns of each compound appeared on the rate of loss of concentration during decomposition; one pattern decreasing sharply during the initial period, another pattern steadily or slowly decreasing, and a newly detected pattern at low concentration occurring during decomposition.