본 연구는 전통적으로 방부 또는 살균효과가 있어 떡 등에 첨가되거나 저장 및 포장에 이용되었던 자생식물 15종 21건에 대하여 데하이드로초산(sodium dehydroacetate), 소르빈산(sorbic acid), 안식향산(benzoic acid), 파라옥시안 식향산메틸(methyl p-hydroxybenzoate), 파라옥시안식향산에틸(ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate), 파라옥시안식향산프로필(propyl p-hydroxybenzoate), 파라옥시안식향산이소프로필(isopropyl p-hydroxybenzoate), 파라옥시안식향산이소부틸(isobutyl p-hydroxybenzoate), 파라옥시안식향산부틸(butyl p-hydroxybenzoate), 프로피온산(propionic acid)의 함유량을 분석하였다. 솔잎, 망개잎, 대나무잎 등 15종에 대한 천연유래 보존료 함유량을 조사한 결과 솔잎, 대나무잎, 칡잎, 모시잎, 쑥, 잣나무잎 등 6종에서 안식향산, 소르빈산, 프로피온산을 확인할 수 있었다. 안식향산은 대나무잎, 모시잎, 솔잎, 쑥, 칡잎, 잣나무잎에서 8.201~21.839 mg/kg, 소르빈산은 대나무잎과 칡잎에서 5.630~24.995 mg/kg, 프로피온산은 모시잎에서 61.324~62.726 mg/kg이 검출되었다. 조사 식물 중 망개잎, 토란잎, 조릿대, 연잎, 원추리, 구절초, 떡갈나무잎, 산초잎, 감잎 등 9종에서는 천연보존성분이 검출되지 않았다.
To examine the levels of preservatives that occur naturally in food, wild plants used as commercial teas, rice cakes, or spices were studied according to the method of the Korean Food Code and analyzed with a gas chromatograph and HPLC. The levels of the natural preservatives (sodium dehydroacetate, sorbic acid, benzoic acid, methyl p-hydroxybenzoate, ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate, isopropyl p-hydroxybenzoate, propyl p-hydroxybenzoate, isobutyl p-hydroxybenzoate, butyl p-hydroxybenzoate, and propionic acid) in 21 cases were investigated against 15 kinds of wild plants. Six of 15 kinds of wild plants, such as pine needles, bamboo leaf, kudzu leaf, ramie leaf, mugwort, and nut pine leaf, were confirmed to have had sorbic acid, benzoic acid, and propionic acid. 8.201-21.839 mg/kg of benzoic acid was detected in the bamboo leaf, ramie leaf, pine needles, mugwort, kudzu leaf, and nut pine leaf. The sorbic acid contents of the bamboo leaf and the kudzu leaf were 5.630-24.995 mg/kg, respectively. The propionic acid content of the ramie leaf was 61.324-62.726 mg/kg. Nine kinds of wild plants, such as the Korean berchimia leaf, taro leaf, sasa borealis, lotus leaf, kuansh, chrysanthemum zawadskii, oak tree leaf, Chinese pepper leaf, and persimmon leaf, were not detected at the levels of the natural preservatives.
