Sixteen strains out of 12 species dermatophytes were examined in respect to their ability of utilizing keratin substrates as the only sources of C and N. The employed keratin substrates included a solubilized preparation of feather keratin (KS) and native keratin, guinea pig hair and chicken feathers. It has been shown that the preparation KS constitutes a convenient model for a preliminary estimation of fungal keratinolytic activity and it can be a source of information about the localization of these enzymes. It has been found that, among the 16 fungal strains, 13 strains synthesize mainly intracellular keratinases while 3 strains of T. verrucosum release enzymes mainly to the medium. Native keratin from hair and feathers was degraded only by some of the examined strains which, under the experimental conditions, developed characteristic spore forms. Keratin of guinea pigs hair was attacked only by the T. mentagrophytes strains, T. verrucosum and K. ajelloi, and only T. gallinae grew on native keratin from chicken feathers.

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Ginseng saponins (ginsenosides) were extracted from the root and leaves of locally cultivated American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.). For the isolation of compounds from plant samples three different extraction methods were utilized: accelerated solvent extraction, the ultrasound-assisted solvent extraction and mechanical shaking assisted solvent extraction. The separation of compounds was achieved with a water-acetonitrile gradient system using a C18 reversed-phase column. Target compounds were identified in MS(2) and MS(3) experiments. The relative distribution of these ginsenosides in each root and leaf extract was established. The limit of detection of the method was less than 30 ng/ml. Recovery of ginseng saponins in spiked samples exceeded 80%, while the relative standard deviation ranged from 7.1 to 9.1%. The total concentrations of ginsenosides were 41 and 13 mg/g in root and leaves.

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