• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 2022

The desire to be light skinned is universal among women. Asia has a long history of using skincare formulations as whitening agents. There is an imperative need to develop novel cosmetics from herbal sources due to several unpleasant side effects and high costs. As a result, this study aims to investigate the effect of Ceylon black tea extracts on melanogenesis. Five different Ceylon black tea extracts were prepared and examined for total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), DPPH radical scavenging activity, and tyrosinase inhibitory activity. Furthermore, B16F10 melanoma cells were treated with these extracts and tested for cytotoxicity and protein suppression levels. According to the results of this study, the highest TPCs were obtained from ethanol and acetone extractions (240.303 ± 1.389 ㎍/g and 240.202 ± 4.700 ㎍/g, respectively), whereas the highest TFC was obtained from acetone extraction (57.484 ± 0.413 ㎍/g). Ceylon black tea extracted with ethanol exhibited the highest inhibitory activity on tyrosinase with an IC₅₀ value of 0.277 ± 0.017 mg/mL and the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity with an EC₅₀ value of 0.009 ± 0.000 mg/mL. Furthermore, western blot results revealed that tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, and MITF protein expression levels were dose-dependently suppressed, indicating the applicability of Ceylon black tea extract as a novel melanogenesis inhibitor.