Studies on the tyrosinase inhibitory comound of Potentilla bifurca L. var. glabrata Lehm

Tyrosinase is an important enzyme involved in the transition steps from tyrosine to melanin. Inhibition of the tyrosinase activity could block melanin formation from tyrosine and thus prevent melanin pigmentation on skin. This may contribute to the development of new whitening agent that would be useful in the prevention of pigmentation. in this study, we isolated tyrosinase inhibitory compound from BuOH fraction of Potentilla bifurca L. var. glabrata Lehm by activity guided fractionation method. Based on spectroscopic data, the active compound was identified as a quercetin 4"-O- glucopyranoside.