Introduction: Saffron has some applications such as anti-spasmodic and analgesic effects in traditional medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti melanogenesis and antioxidant properties of crocin (one of the saffron active components) on B16F10 mouse melanoma cell line.Methods: In this experimental study, B16F10 cells were prepared from Pasteur Institute (NCBI) and were grown in medium containing 10% FBS with 1% antibiotics at 37o C.Then, the cell viability was assessed, the inhibitory effect of crocin on melanogenesis was investigated by fungal tyrosinase, and tyrosinase activity assessment, melanin synthesis and cellular antioxidant capacity was evaluated after treatment with various concentrations of crocin (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 µg/ ml) by DCFDA assay. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS software, one way ANOVA, Tukey test at p≤0.05Results: The data revealed no significant cytotoxicity of crocin (p>0.05) (concentrations of 1-16 µg/ ml) on B16F10 cells, in addition, fungal tyrosinase activity (***p≤ 0.001), intracellular tyrosinase activity (*p< 0.05, **p≤ 0.01) and melanin content (*p< 0.05, **p≤ 0. 01, ***p≤ 0.001) have suppressed in a dose-dependent manner. Further, reduction of free radicals in treated melanoma cells exhibited that crocin in concentrations of 4and 8 µg/ ml in p<0.05 and-16 µg/ mlin p≤ 0.001 possess significant antioxidant efficacy.Conclusion: Our results elucidated that crocin was proposed as melanogenesis inhibitor in B16F10 cells, which can be considered as an effective whitening agent.

Background and objectives: Phytochemical studies have shown that the Phlomis species are rich in polyphenolics and iridoid glycosides and many of them have shown potential value in different biological and pharmacological activities. In this study, we evaluated the effect of Phlomis persica, P. brugieri, P. olivieri and P. anisodontea extracts on melanin production in human malignant melanoma (SKMEL-3) cells. Methods: The anti-tyrosinase activity of the extracts was investigated using mushroom tyrosinase assay. Cytotoxicity potentials were examined through MTT assay on SKMEL-3 cell line and then the level of melanin formation in SKMEL-3 cells was determined. Results: The anti-tyrosinase activity of the Phlomis extracts was not remarkable (about 0. 1 mg/mL). All extracts significantly increased the melanin content in SKMEL-3 cells at 0. 25 mg/mL and among them P. anisodontea extract seemed to be more efficient in stimulating melanin production. Conclusion: Based on our results, we suggest these total extracts particularly P. anisodontea extract contain the potent skin browning agents that can be used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

Background & Objective: Abnormal production of melanin pigment which causes melasma, freckles, ephelides, and age spots, are esthetic problems. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO), a coppercontaining enzyme, is involved in melanin biosynthesis and the abnormal accumulation of melanin pigments. Thus, its inhibitors are of great importance in the medical and cosmetic fields. The aim of this study was to investigate some salicylaldehyde Analogues as Polyphenol oxidase inhibitors. Material & Methods: In the present study, thirty five derivatives of salicylaldehyde scaffold were subjected to molecular docking studies to investigate the mode of interaction of the compounds with tyrosinase active site. Docking study was performed by AutoDock 4. 2 program and the resulting docking poses were analyzed in AutoDockTools, DS Visualizer 3. 5 and Ligplot softwares. Results: Among the all studied compounds, Ligand 4-isopropylsalicylaldehyde displayed good docking results. In fact, this compound had the most negative Δ Gbind (-4. 01 Kcal/mol) that indicated favorable interactions with the key amino acid residues at active site of Polyphenol oxidase. Docking results for this compound are in accordance with the docking results of Co-crystallized ligand (tropolone). In this compound, the oxygen of a carbonyl group has an efficient metal-ligand interaction with the Cu2+ ion in the active site. Conclusion: The presence of non-polar moiety in salicylaldehyde Analogues increases the inhibitory property.