Antioxidant and Antimelanogenesis Activities of Glyasperin A from Macaranga pruinosa Leaves

In our effort to find materials for drugs and cosmetics from tropical natural resources, we screened 21 methanol extracts from 7 Macaranga trees species (Macaranga bancana, Macaranga gigantea, Macaranga hullettii, Macaranga pruinosa, Macaranga tanarius, Macaranga trichocarpa, and Macaranga triloba) for antioxidant and antimelanogenesis. The antioxidant and melanogenesis (tyrosinase enzyme assay and melanin inhibitor in B16 melanoma) assays were used to determine the activities. The fractionation and the isolation of active compound were done by various chomatographic methods and the structure was determined by spectroscopic analysis data. We isolated a prenylated flavonoid, named Glyasperin A, from M. pruinosa leaf. This compound showed a potency as antioxidant and inhibited melanin in B16 melanoma but not tyrosinase activity. These results showed that the methanol leaf extracts of M. pruinosa could be developed for cosmetic applications especially as a skin whitening agent.