Ampelopsis Radix has been used as a traditional Korean medicine for the treatment of burns and scalds. However, there has been no scientific research to date on the wound healing properties of Ampelopsis Radix for scald burns. This study aimed to evaluate the healing effect of Ampelopsis japonica root tuber ethanol extract (AJE) on induced cutaneous scald injury in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Hot water scalds were induced in SD rats, who were then divided into the following 5 groups; 1) control group without treatment, 2) positive control group with 1 % Silver sulfadiazine (SSD), 3) Vaseline group, and groups 4) and 5) that used Vaseline containing 5 % and 20 % AJE, respectively. The ointment was applied topically to the experimental rats, once daily for 21 days, starting at 24 h post induction of the scald injury. Gross examination, measurement of wound size, and histopathological examination were performed. And quantitative measurement of cytokine levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-10 (IL-10), transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Clinical evaluation showed that the AJE and Vaseline groups, rapidly desquamated scab on day 12 post-scalding; in particular, the 20 % AJE group achieved the greatest extent of skin recovery. Sizes of scald wound were significantly lower on days 12, 15, 18, and 21 in the AJE treated groups compared to the control groups. Histopathological evaluation showed a well-organized epithelial layer, angiogenesis, tissue granulation and collagen formation with the exception of inflammatory cells in the AJE-treated groups compared to the control groups on day 14, indicating that tissue regeneration had occurred. AJE treatment decreased TNF-α and increased IL-10 levels on days 2 and 14, indicating the anti-inflammatory action of AJE. The AJE groups also showed a decrease in TGF-β1 levels on day 7 and VEGF on day 14 in the serum of scald inflicted SD rat model. These results suggest that AJE possesses scald wound healing activity via accelerating the scald wound repair during the inflammation and proliferative phases of the healing process.

Ligusticum jeholense has been used as the traditional medicine ‘Go-Bon’ (Chinese name, Gao-ben) in China and Korea. Considering the increased use of medicinal herbs to treat hypertension, in this study, we aimed to investigate the mechanisms of the vasorelaxation effect caused by L. jeholense. We tested the methanol (MeOH) extract of L. jeholense root and rhizoma for vasorelaxant effects; while using an isolated organ-chamber technique, L. jeholense extract (LJE) induced relaxation in the rat aortic rings by stimulating vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells. LJE showed concentration-dependent relaxant effects on endothelium-intact and endothelium-denuded aortic rings pre-contracted with both phenylephrine (PE) and potassium chloride (KCl) in Krebs-Henseleit (KH) buffer. The vasorelaxant effect of LJE was partly attenuated by pre-treatment with glibenclamide or 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) as K⁺ channel blockers. Moreover, LJE showed concentration-dependent inhibition of vasoconstriction by Ca²⁺ supplementation in the aortic rings that were pre-contracted with PE or KCl in Ca²⁺-free KH buffer. In addition, a combination of LJE and nifedipine, pre-incubated further, decreased PE-induced contractions. The results suggested that LJE-induced vasorelaxation were related to blocking K⁺ channels and inhibiting entry of extracellular Ca²⁺ via receptor-operative Ca²⁺ channels (ROCCs) or voltage-dependent Ca²⁺ channels (VDCCs).

Postbiotics—defined by the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) as preparations of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confer a health benefit to the host—are attractive from a stability perspective compared to live probiotics. They withstand thermal processing and room-temperature transport and storage and are compatible with low-pH or low-water-activity food products. Despite the promise, the literature is scattered, with no review that integrates evidence from the development pipeline. This review fills that gap. The ISAPP 2021 definition is reviewed, including the practical difficulty resulting from the exclusion of cell-free supernatant (CFS)-based products that represent most of the experimental evidence. Fermentation-based production systems and non-thermal inactivation technologies—high-pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric fields (PEF), ultrasound, cold plasma, and supercritical CO₂—are compared; non-thermal inactivation preserves the activity of thermolabile bacteriocins and phenolic fractions. Delivery systems such as spray-drying, alginate hydrogel microencapsulation, liposomal nanoencapsulation, and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) active packaging are assessed for gastrointestinal survival and food system compatibility. Biopreservation potential is reviewed in meat, seafood, dairy, fresh produce, and fermented foods. The regulatory framework for the United States, European Union, Japan, and India is critically reviewed; “postbiotic” is not an explicitly defined term in 2025. Three priority translational bottlenecks are identified: the absence of standardized potency assays, the lack of cross-class quality benchmarks, and the unresolved conflict between heat-inactivated dairy postbiotics and the Codex Alimentarius live-culture standard. Harmonized regulations and characterization standards are critical needs for postbiotic functional food development.

Functional beverages are increasingly used as a medium for targeted nutritional intervention, but liquid matrices present limitations that free bioactives frequently fail to overcome, such as precipitation, oxidation, and degradation during storage and gastrointestinal transit. This review explores the delivery systems that overcome these limitations in acidic, low-viscosity beverages, including biopolymer nanocarriers, solid-particle-stabilized (Pickering) emulsions, nanoemulsions, co-encapsulation systems and fermentation-derived exopolysaccharides. Beyond simple retention, we propose bioaccessibility (speciated) and sensory acceptability (clarity, mouthfeel, off-notes) as co-primary evaluation endpoints. The compatibility, stability, processing resilience (pasteurization, ultra-high temperature (UHT), high-pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric field (PEF)), scalability and cost are combined in a comparative decision-support framework, and the sustainability assessment warns against assuming environmental benefits based on bio-based origin alone. Regulatory analysis compares the EU’s statutory nanomaterial framework with functional pathways in the US and UK, framing gastrointestinal dissolution screening as a pragmatic filter rather than a universal barrier. Lastly, we describe novel validation tools, gut-on-a-chip and organoid models combined with AI-powered multi-omics, not as replacements for human studies but as tools to accelerate formulation prioritization. The review proposes a matrix-aware framework for evaluating beverage delivery as a decision-governed translation problem that encompasses efficacy, acceptability, sustainability, and regulatory viability.