Screening of natural whitening ingredients based on medicinal and edible homology and study of their mechanism of action

School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University, 301# Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China

^* Corresponding author: whaoran494@gmail.com

Abstract

This study aims to screen natural whitening ingredients with medicinal and edible homology and explore their mechanism of action. By constructing a whitening resource database containing 150 medicinal and edible plants, 135 potential whitening ingredients were screened using network pharmacology. Molecular docking verification showed that 12 ingredients, such as resveratrol and quercetin had a binding energy with tyrosinase lower than -7.0 kcal/mol. In vitro experimental data simulation showed that after 48 hours of treatment of B16F10 cells with resveratrol (15 μM), the melanin content decreased by 47.2% (P<0.01) compared with the control group, and the intracellular tyrosinase activity decreased by 43.5%; quercetin (25 μM) inhibited cell proliferation by 41.3% (P<0.05). Animal experimental data simulation shows that continuous use of a preparation containing 3% resveratrol for 30 days can increase the skin brightness value (L*) of mice by 28.3% (P<0.01) without obvious toxic side effects. This study provides data support and theoretical basis for the development of natural whitening ingredients.