Extraction And Application Of Active Ingredients From Licorice For Whitening Cosmetics

Licorice, the root of the Glycyrrhiza glabra, containing various ingredients for instance, flavonoids, triterpenoids, polysaccharides and alkaloids, are widely consumed in southern Europe, India, and Asia. Glycyrrhizic acid and glabridin are the most studied active constituents of licorice with their anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogen, anti-oxidation and restrain melanin production activities. Refluxing extration and ultrasonication extraction were mainly used in the extraction of glycyrrhizic acid and glabridin from Glycyrrhiza glabra L., while glycyrrhizic acid and glabridin are inclined to decompose due to the long time and high temperature of their extraction process. Smashing tissue extraction, which is known for its relative short time and low temperature has been efficiently used for the extraction of instability constituents such as ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid and icariin. In this study, the simultaneous extraction of glycyrrhizic acid and glabridin using smashing tissue extraction were investigated.As a natural and safe skin whitening agent, the content of Glabridin is low in licorice. The solubility of glabridin in methylene chloride and ethyl acetate is ralatively high. The ethyl acetate is a better choice as extraction solvent because of the toxicity of methylene chloride. Furthermore, tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the above crude ethyl acetate extract was investigated. After that, the synergetic inhibition of ethyl acetate extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. and 3-O-ethyl-L-ascorbic acid were stutied.The main contents are as follows:1.The simultaneous extraction of glycyrrhizic acid and glabridinThe single factor tests、orthogonal tests and verification tests were done to optimise the smashing tissue extraction parameters as follows:70% ethanol containing 0.5% ammonia solution as extraction solvent, ratio of material to liquid 1:25 (w:v,g/mL), extraction voltage 95 V and extraction times 3 times. Under these extraction conditions, the extraction rates of glycyrrhizic acid and glabridin were 87.58% (RSD=1.21%) and 65.72%(RSD=0.13%), respectively. The results showed the extraction rate of glycyrrhizic acid via smashing tissue extraction, refluxing extration and ultrasonication extraction was respective 87.58%,58.32%,74.28%. The extraction rate of glabridin via simultaneous extraction, refluxing extration and ultrasonication extraction was respective 65.72%,62.13%,63.13%.2. The inhibitory of the ethyl acetate extract from licorice on tyrosinaseTyrosinase activity was estimated based on the substrate L-dopa. The kinetics and mechanisms of inhibition process were investigated by the means of biochemical enzymatic. The results showed that licorice extracts could inhibit the tyrosinase activity with the half inhibiting concentration value of approximately (266.53±1.42)μg/mL. Moreover, the inhibition of ethyl acetate extract on tyrosinase was reversible and belonged to mix-type.3. The ethyl acetate extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. in the application of whitening cosmeticsThe synergistic inhibition activity of ethyl acetate extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. and 3-O-ethyl-L-ascorbic acid were investigated in this part. When the total mass ratio of ethyl acetate extractive to 3-O-ethyl-L-ascorbic acid was 5:2, their tyrosinase inhibition rate was 56.78%. The inhibition was higher than when they were tested separately. In addition, the inhibition was higher in comparison with two kinds of whitening cosmetics.