A review on tyrosinase inhibition potential of plant extracts for skin whitening

E.M.T.A. Ekanayaka and W.S. De Silva

Abstract

Fair skin is considered a trait of beauty in many cultures all over the world. Hence, there is an increased demand for skin whitening products. Since synthetic skin whitening products which are available in the market are associated with adverse effects, attention has shifted towards plant extracts with tyrosinase inhibitory potencies, as natural products are safe and effective. This study was conducted as a systematic review of plants with skin-whitening properties using a tyrosinase inhibitory assay. Research articles that were published between the years 2010-2021 were studied for this review article. The review was based on two inclusion criteria and two exclusion criteria. When it comes to inclusion criteria, tyrosinase inhibitory assay was used for extract assessment, and only the English articles were revised. The research papers that lack half maximal inhibitory concentration analysis were rejected, and only plant extracts were considered, while compounds were rejected. From a total of 70 articles that were studied, only 23 were considered relevant. IC₅₀ values of tyrosinase inhibitory assay in different plant extracts were considered, and the details were tabulated. The highest tyrosinase inhibitory potency was recorded from the methanol extract of Quercus infectoria galls with an IC₅₀ value of 3.34 µg/ml, while the second highest tyrosinase inhibitory potency was recorded from the methanol extract of Terminalia chebula fruit with an IC₅₀ value of 3.87 µg/ml. The families Balanophoraceae and Caprifoliaceae showed high tyrosinase inhibitory potencies, while the families Sapotaceae, Clusiaceae, Fabaceae, Solanaceae, and Malvaceae showed moderate tyrosinase inhibitory potencies. Therefore, it can be concluded that the plants from the above-mentioned families possess active tyrosinase inhibition properties. It was also observed that even when comparing the same plant part of the same species when the polarity of the solvent used for extract preparation is low that the IC₅₀ value tends to be high.

Keywords: IC₅₀, Plants, Tyrosinase inhibition.

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Cite as: Ekanayaka, E.M.T.A. and De Silva, W.S., 2023. A review on tyrosinase inhibition potential of plant extracts for skin whitening. Vavuniya Journal of Science, 2(1):1-7.