Research Paper : The Effect of Mixed Whitening Cosmetic Ingredientson the Melanogenesis Inhibition of the Melanocyte

Kim, Mi Jung; Moon, Ji Sun; Choe, Tae Boo

Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology 2013;19(5):867-873.
Published online October 31, 2013.

미백성분들의 혼합사용이 Melanocyte의 멜라닌 생성 억제에 미치는 영향

김미정, 문지선, 최태부

Research Paper : The Effect of Mixed Whitening Cosmetic Ingredientson the Melanogenesis Inhibition of the Melanocyte

Mi Jung Kim, Ji Sun Moon, Tae Boo Choe

Abstract

Arbutin is widely used as an effective ingredient in the skin lightening functional cosmetics. However, because of the skin barrier and low penetration efficiency, the substantial amount of Arbutin reached to the melanocytes residing on the basal membrane of epidermis is very low and for this reason, the lightening effect of Arbutin is also below the expectation. In this work, the effect of the mixture of melanogenesis inhibitors including Arbutin on the skin lightening was studied. When Arbutin was mixed with various melanogensis inhibitors such as tyrosinase inhibitors(Kaempferol, Epigallocathecin galate), tyrosinase expression regulators(Curcumin, Piperine), tyrosinase glycosylation inhibitors(Genistein) and antioxidants(N-acetyl-cysteine and Ascorbic acid-2-glucoside), the degree of melanogenesis inhibition was greatly increased. For example, the melanogenesis inhibition ratio of Arbutin with 100.M was only 15%, while that of the mixture of Arbutin, Genestein(5.M), Curcumin(5.M) and Piperine(5.M) was as high as 50%. The cytotoxic effect of this mixture was negligible. From this result, the melanogenesis inhibition effect can be enhanced by using various kind of melanogenesis inhibitors, even at a very low concentration such as 5.M.

Key Words: Arbutin, Curcumin, Genistein, Melanogenesis, Whitening effect