Abstract

Tyrosinase Inhibitory and Antioxidant Activity by Bromophenols from the Alga Odonthalia corymbifera

Author(s): Islam MR, Mikami D and Kurihara H

In the course of our search for tyrosinase inhibitors and antioxidants, six known bromophenol dimers were purified from methanol extract of the red alga Odonthalia corymbifera. The compounds were identified by comparison with published spectroscopic data. These bromophenols were categorized into symmetric and asymmetric dimers. Among them, the tetrabrominated dimers displayed more potent tyrosinase inhibition than the tribrominated ones. Especially, the asymmetric tetrabrominated compound showed strong inhibition. These results suggest that number of bromine substitution and orientation of bromine and phenolic hydroxy groups are important factors of tyrosinase inhibitory potency. The bromophenols were also investigated for antioxidant activities by using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging, CUPRAC and FRAP metal reducing and copper chelation assays. All dimers showed comparable antioxidant activities to the positive controls examined. Symmetric dimers displayed relatively higher antioxidant activities than asymmetric ones.