Some plant functional constituents have been attracting attention as neutraceuticals because of potential health benefits as exemplified by evidence of prevention of chronic lifestyle-related diseases. Curcumin, quercetin, and resveratrol are very well-known neutraceuticals having common physicochemical and biological properties such as low water solubility and potent anti-oxidative activity. This issue focusses on curcumin, and integrated research perspectives on: (1) taxonomy and pharmacognosy of medicinally used Curcuma species and crude drugs from Curcuma plants; (2) experimental pharmacology of curcumin; and (3) clinical activities of curcumin especially with regard to cardio-vascular function. To provide appropriate neutraceutical effects in vivo, commercial products should contain functional compounds in suitable concentrations, readily released in the digestive tract, and effectively absorbed through intestinal membranes. Therefore, strict chemical as well as pharmaceutical validation is essential for targeted utilization of neutraceutical products. Collaboration of scientists active in food science and pharmaceutics is highly desirable toward this end.

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Curcuma plants in Asia which have found medicinal-use, especially for the included turmeric, and derivative crude drugs are here briefly reviewed. The Indian literature mentions the absence of authentic type specimens of C. aromatic Salisb. pointing to confusion of “C. aromatica” with different plants whose morphological characteristics match the original description provided by A. Salisbury. Indeed, plants native in south India once prefixed with C. aromatica have now been renamed as C. zanthorrhiza. This same phenomenon has also occurred with C. zedoaria, not only in India but also frequently in other Asian countries. As we clarified previously, crude drugs produced in Japan, Thailand and India that are recognized as derivatives of C. aromatica feature different nucleotide sequences in the plastid trnK gene. Genetic analysis of this region has provided useful information to discriminate and identify Chinese and Japanese Curcuma plants and drugs. However, the trnK gene sequence suffers from limitations to classify more closely linked species, and C. zedoaria and C. zanthorrhiza could not be differentiated solely on the basis of their trnK information. Therefore a more detailed classification system has been a high priority. Accordingly, another method for discriminating Curcuma species by intron length polymorphism (ILP) markers in genes encoding diketide-CoA synthase and curcumin synthase has been developed. Grouping based on ILP markers is not only consistent with results based on the trnK gene but also gives more details. Taking C. longa as an example, specimens from Asian countries were geographically distinguishable by means of this method, suggesting its use as a potential tool for further taxonomic study. In additional chemical studies, HPLC based quantitative analysis of curcuminoids in turmeric samples purchased from Japanese markets using curcumin as the standard, indicated that the content of curcuminoids in turmeric should be in the range from 1.0 to 5.0% for validity.

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Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a popular Indian spice that has been used for centuries in herbal medicines for the treatment of a variety of ailments such as rheumatism, diabetic ulcers, anorexia, cough and sinusitis. India is world's largest producer of turmeric, where it has been used as a home-remedy for several ailments for ages. The turmeric rhizomes contain 2.5–6.0 % curcuminoids which are responsible for the yellow colour. Curcuminoids comprise of Curcumin Ⅰ (Curcumin), Curcumin Ⅱ (Demethoxycurcumin) and Curcumin Ⅲ (Bisdemethoxycurcumin) which are found to be natural anti-oxidants. Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) the main curcuminoid present in turmeric and responsible for its yellow colour, has been found to possess many beneficial biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anti-mutagenic, anti-coagulant, anti-diabetic, wound healing and anti-infective effects. The clinical use of curcumin is limited to some extent because of its poor water solubility and low bioavailability. Studies are in progress worldover to market the biological potential of this natural medicine.

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Central arteries have the ability to buffer and cushion changes in blood flow and blood pressure. Increase in arterial stiffness impairs this buffering function and contributes to elevation in systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure and cardiac afterload. Such stiffness increases with advancing age and constitutes an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is important to prevent and treat age-related increase in arterial stiffness. Lifestyle modification, including regular exercise and dietary modification, are known to have a favorable effect on vascular aging. A body of evidence indicates that regular aerobic exercise decreases arterial stiffness even in middle-aged and older individuals. However, little is known about the effects of dietary nutrition on arterial stiffness as compared to exercise. Several studies have reported possible positive effects of calorie restriction and ingestion of particular dietary nutrients. Curcumin, a polyphenolic molecule extracted from turmeric, is known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. Recently, it was documented that chronic curcumin ingestion improves arterial stiffness in middle-aged and older people. The magnitude of improvement by curcumin was similar to that of aerobic exercise training. Moreover, combination of curcumin ingestion with aerobic exercise training led to a greater reduction in arterial stiffness compared to that achieved with either treatment alone. Combination of dietary supplementation and regular aerobic exercise may be more efficacious in counteracting arterial stiffness and vascular aging.

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It is a gaining recognition that the arterial pressure wave within any blood vessel is composed of a steady-state component (i.e., mean arterial pressure) and a pulsatile component (i.e., pulse pressure). The pulsatile component of central arteries consists mainly of a forward traveling wave generated by left ventricular ejection and a reflected wave emanating from the peripheral blood vessels that returns to the heart. As chronic high brachial blood pressure (i.e., hypertension) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), blood pressure control is considered as a primary protective strategy. However, peripheral arterial pressure does not represent central arterial pressure because the peripheral pulsatile component is augmented due to pulse wave amplification. Importantly, increased central arterial pressure has emerged as an important factor underlying the pathophysiology of CVD, arguably more so than peripheral arterial pressure. In this article, we review the influences of acute exercise bouts and chronic (regular) exercise on central arterial pressure. Additionally, we introduce studies dealing with the effects of curcumin (diferuloylmethane), a yellow pigment in the spice turmeric, on central arterial pressure and vascular function. Curcumin seems have various beneficial properties, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, chemopreventive, and chemotherapeutic activity, presumably via multiple signaling pathways (i.e., survival pathways regulated by nuclear factor-κB, Akt, and growth factors; cytoprotective pathways; angiogenic pathways). Antiinflammatory and antioxidant properties could potentially improve endothelial function and thereby attenuate central wave reflection and central arterial pressure via decrease in vascular tone.

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The safety assessment of foods and food additives produced by genetically modified microorganisms in Japan commenced on 1991 according to the Guidelines for Safety Analysis of Food and Food Additives from Genetically Modified Organisms by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The safety assessment was mandated by the Food Sanitation Act Japan in 2000, and Food Safety Commission Japan was established to take on safety assessment independent of risk regulation by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2003, ruled by the Food Safety Basic Act. The commission legislated Standards for the Safety Assessment of Genetically Modified Foods and Food Additives, in which the definition of the recombinant-DNA organisms is identical to that in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, that is “the genetic material has been changed through in vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles”. Although this definition, identical to the Standards by Food Safety Commission Japan, deals with neither self-cloning nor natural occurrence, the Act on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity through Regulations on the Use of Living Modified Organisms exempts both self-cloning and natural occurrence from genetically modified living organisms. The notification of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and Food Safety Commission Japan should be applied on June 27, 2014, which has been established to exempt microorganisms for production of foods and food additives having DNA with self-cloning and natural occurrence, from objects of the safety assessment. This does not mean deregulation of food safety; the fundamental stance on consideration of food safety for these microorganisms is immutable before and after the application of this notification.

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The IUCN listed Apostichopus japonicus (Japanese Spiky Sea Cucumber) “endangered” in their Red List of Threatened Species in 2013 because of population decrease for the last 30 to 40 years. In order to investigate its validity, the present article surveys current A. japonicus fisheries in Japan: harvest data and export data. The present article asserts that one of the possible reasons for the decline in A. japonicus harvest after the 1970s in Japan is due to a lack of fishing effort. To support this speculation, harvests of A. japonicus began increasing again in the early 2000s due to a price increase. Around the mid 2000s, new types of sea cucumber products such as salt-preserved body wall, became common among Japanese processors. They are exported to China and processed into a dried product there. To confirm the new trend in the sea cucumber trade, an exploration of Japanese A. japonicus in the Hong Kong and Chinese markets is provided. The last part of the article points out the problems regarding the shift of sea cucumber processing from dried to salt-preserved products. Finally, the article introduces efforts of local sea cucumber fishermen and processors to enhance the domestic sea cucumber market in order to maintain sustainable sea cucumber fisheries. The first half of the article was already issued in the Vol. 220, No. 3, 2015 issue of this Journal and the present issue will deal with the last half.

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After the end of the glacial period, the temperate and subtropical zone appeared in the North American Continent due to the change of climate. In particular, California in the north-west of the Continent and in contact with the Pacific Ocean changed to an area with a mild climate and fertile soil. The forest producing acorns grew and many animals inhabited the area. In addition, the coasts, rivers and lakes changed to harbor many fish. The ancestors of aborigines moved into the area as many groups of tribal units for getting foodstuff, and established their territories as they settled down in the area. The acorn was the staple food for these people for the last five thousand years. Further, they made a unique culture and science around the acorn, and the acorn was the most important food for them until the beginning of the 20^th century. Therefore, both California and Korea are the centers concerning the culture and science of the acorn in the world.

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