Antioxidant, antimelanogenic, and skin-protective effect of sesamol

Sesame contains high nutritional value and important bioactive lignans which are good for health-promoting effects including sesamol. Sesamol is found in trace amounts in sesame. The biological action from the trace amounts of sesamol found might indicate its efficacy. This paper presents a systematic study of the antimelanogenic and skin-protective effects (antioxidant) of sesamol and positive compounds. The results showed that sesamol had the most scavenging 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH·) radical with an IC50 value < 14.48 µM. The antioxidant power (Ferric reducing antioxidant power value) of sesamol at a concentration of 0.1129 µM was 189.88 ± 17.56 µM FeSO4. Sesamol inhibited lipid peroxidation with an IC50 value of 6.15 ± 0.2 µM. Moreover, sesamol possessed a whitening effect by inhibition of mushroom tyrosinase at an IC50 value of 1.6 µM and an inhibition of cellular tyrosinase with 23.55 ± 8.25% inhibition at a concentration of 217.2 µM. Sesamol exhibited high antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase activity compared to the positive control, kojic acid and β-arbutin. Sesamol from edible sesame seed could therefore have an alternative cosmeceutical purpose.