THE POTENTIAL OF Asystasia gangetica (CHINESE VIOLET) EXTRACTS AS AN ANTI-AGING AGENT AND AS A WHITENING AGENT
MARJETTE YLREB U. BARBAZA
School of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering and Sciences, Mapúa University, Intramuros, Manila, 1002 Metro Manila, Philippines .
CHENG-YANG HSIEH
Ph.D. Program in Clinical Drug Development of Herbal Medicine, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
KATHLIA A. DE CASTRO- CRUZ
School of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering and Sciences, Mapúa University, Intramuros, Manila, 1002 Metro Manila, Philippines.
CHIA-JUNG LEE
Ph.D. Program in Clinical Drug Development of Herbal Medicine, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan, Graduate Institute of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan and Traditional Herbal Medicine Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
PO-WEI TSAI *
Department of Medical Sciences Industry, College of Health Sciences, Chang Jung Christian University, Tainan 711, Taiwan.
CHIEH-LUN HSIEH
Ph.D. Educational Management Major in P.E., Graduate School, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Manila, 1007 Metro Manila, Philippines.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Several advancements were achieved from natural products chemistry over the years and all over the world and although exploration of natural products was more focused on its application in the medical field, studies on its use in the cosmetic industry, primarily on anti-aging and whitening, have also been performed especially now that the cosmetics market is moving towards the green cosmetic trend. Inflammation plays a major role in intrinsic human skin aging while tyrosinase serves as a key player in the color development of the skin because of its role in melanin production. With this, the study aims to assess the potential of different extracts of Asystasia gangetica which is abundant in biologically active components such as phenolics, flavonoids, saponins, and tannins as a source of cosmetic products that are anti-aging and whitening in order to provide new information that will be valuable in green cosmetic research. To do this, different extracts of A. gangetica were utilized to treat RAW 264.7 cells to assess their anti-inflammatory activity and are reacted with tyrosinase solution and L-DOPA substrate to examine its anti-tyrosinase activity. The findings showed that all extracts except for aqueous exhibit anti-inflammatory property with methanol extract being the most favorable, while only three extracts exhibited inhibitory effect against tyrosinase, with ethyl acetate extract being the most promising with an of 0.19 ± 0.013 mg/mL. In conclusion, A. gangetica has the potential to act as an anti-aging and a whitening agent and may be essential in further development of green cosmetics.
Keywords: Anti-aging agent, anti-inflammatory activity, Asystasia gangetica, tyrosinase inhibition, whitening agent.