Melanin Biosynthesis Inhibitory Activity of Compounds Isolated from Unused Parts of Ammi visinaga

Ahmed Ashour, Saleh El-Sharkawy, Mohamed Amer, Fatma Abdel Bar, Ryuichiro Kondo, Kuniyoshi Shimizu

Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.

DOI: 10.4236/jcdsa.2013.33A2010                

Abstract

Ten compounds have been isolated from the unused parts of Ammi visinaga. The isolated compounds were identified as tetracosanoic acid (1), β-sitosterol (2), visnadine (3), khellin (4), β-sitosterol glucoside (5), norkhellol (6), khellol (7), rhamnazin (8), cimifugin (9), and cis-khellactone-3’-β-glucopyranoside (10). The chemical structures of these compounds were elucidated based on spectroscopic data (NMR, UV, MS and IR spectra). This is the first report on the identification of tetracosanoic acid (1), norkhellol (6) and cimifugin (9) in the Ammi genus. The melanin biosynthesis inhibitory activities of khellin (4), khellol (7), visnadine (3), cimifugin (9), β-sitosterol (2) and β-sitosterol glucoside (5) were evaluated. Khellin (4) exhibited a potent melanin inhibitory effect compared to arbutin with less toxicity.

Keywords

Ammi visinaga; Khellin; Melanin

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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