The whitening effect of a culture supernatant from a fungus of
Trichoderma sp. isolated from a marine environment was investigated. The supernatant had tyrosinase inhibitory activity
in vitro. From the time course study of the production of tyrosinase inhibitor, maximum production was obtained after incubation for 3 to 4 days. The culture supernatant was subjected to a high performance liquid chromatography in order to investigate the whitening compounds in it. At least three compounds were found in the supernatant having inhibitory activity
in vitro. The evaluation by a B16 cell in all fractions revealed that three active fractions exited. These fractions did not always coincide with the fraction of inhibitory activity
in vitro. The fraction with inhibitory activity both
in vitro and against B16 cell showed the remarkable inhibitory effect of melanogenesis. Thus, the culture supernatant contained various components having whitening effects, suggesting that it is possible to apply it to new whitening cosmetics.
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