Review looks at anti-tyrosinase potential of different medicinal herbs

Tyrosinase is an enzyme responsible for the appearance of brown discoloration in fruits and vegetables, as well as age spots and melasma in humans. Researchers from Jadavpur University in India reviewed different medicinal herbs for their anti-tyrosinase potential. Their findings appeared in the Journal of Herbal Medicine.

• Tyrosinase is a multifunctional, copper-containing enzyme responsible for the biosynthesis of melanin that determines skin color. Excessive melanin causes dermatological disorders such as melasma and age spots.
• Tyrosinase also deteriorates the color clarity of plant-derived food products, resulting in browning reactions and loss of nutritional quality.
• Tyrosinase inhibition is actively studied in dermatological, biomedical, food and agricultural science. It also has potential impact in the domain of insect physiology.
• Tyrosinase inhibitors are commercially available for cosmetic purposes to lighten the complexion. Clinically, they are used to treat hyper-pigmentary disorders. However, there is ongoing research on the safety of tyrosinase inhibitors due to their undesirable side effects.
• In the present study, researchers aimed to find potent and safe tyrosinase inhibitors from medicinal plants. Their review provides comprehensive overviews of various tyrosinase inhibitors obtained from medicinal plants and their mechanisms of action.
• The researchers extensively studied several medicinal plants as tyrosinase inhibitors.
• They established the polyphenol and stilbenes group of phytomolecules as effective tyrosinase inhibitors.
• However, only a few of these molecules have been clinically investigated as potential anti-melanogenic agents.
• Tyrosinase inhibitors can also be used as anti-browning agents in the food-processing industry.

The researchers believe that their review will be useful for the development and evaluation of tyrosinase inhibitors from medicinal plants.

Visit Cosmetics.news for more studies on natural skin whitening agents.

Journal Reference:

Mukherjee PK, Biswas R, Sharma A, Banerjee S, Biswas S, Katiyar C. VALIDATION OF MEDICINAL HERBS FOR ANTI-TYROSINASE POTENTIAL. Journal of Herbal Medicine. December 2018;14:1–16. DOI: 10.1016/j.hermed.2018.09.002