The potential of Arthrospira platensis extract as a tyrosinase inhibitor for pharmaceutical or cosmetic applications

Skin problems especially the aging and darkening are the major esthetic problems in human beings. Various natural compounds has been used in order to deal with unwanted skin spots until past to the present. The orientation of people who take care of themselves towards natural products is growing increasingly nowadays. Microalgae species with both great taxonomic diversity and high environmental stability could be a good source for cosmetic products. In this context, the tyrosinase inhibitory activities of Arthrospira platensis ethanol and water extracts were evaluated in the present study. The ethanol extract showed the higher inhibitory activity on tyrosinase enzyme (IC50:1.4 × 10− 3 g/mL) than water extract (IC50:7.2 × 10− 3 g/mL). Due to their substrate like structure, ferulic and caffeic acids in ethanol extract may probably be the main inhibitors of tyrosinase. The higher antioxidant capacity of water extract although the lower total phenolic content indicates that the main contributor of the antioxidant capacity might probably not the phenolic compounds. © 2018 South African Association of Botanist