Three minor ginsenosides, namely, ginsenoside Rh6 (1), Vinaginsenoside R4 (2) and vinaginsenoside R13 (3), were isolated from the leaves of hydroponic Panax ginseng. METHODS AND RESULTS: The chemical structures were determined based on spectroscopic methods, including fast atom bombardment mass spectroscopy (FAB-MS), 1D-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), 2D-NMR, and, infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The melanogenic inhibitory activity of compounds 1, 2 and 3 was 23.9%, 27.8% and 35.2%, respectively, at a concentration of 80 μM. Likewise, the three compounds showed inhibitory activity on body pigmentation on a zebrafish model, which is commonly used as a model for biomedical or cosmetic research.
CONCLUSIONS:
These results from in vitro and in vivo systems suggest that the three aforementioned compounds isolated from Panax ginseng may have potential as new skin whitening compounds. |