This study was initiated to isolate active metabolites from the leaves of Panax ginseng. Among them, picrionoside A, a megastigmane glucoside, was isolated from the leaves of P. ginseng C. A. MEYER and its chemical structure was determined based on spectroscopic methods, including FAB-MS, one-dimensional (1D)-NMR, 2D-NMR, and IR spectroscopy. Picrionoside A from P. ginseng has not been investigated previously, and its biological or pharmaceutical activities have not been reported elsewhere. The IC 50 value of mushroom tyrosinase-inhibitory activity of picrionoside A was 9.8 µM, and the rate of inhibition of synthesized melanin content in melan-a cells was 17.1% at a concentration of 80 µM without cytotoxicity. Furthermore, picrionoside A dramatically reduced body pigmentation in the zebrafish model. Taken together, the results suggest that picrionoside A isolated from the leaves of P. ginseng may be an effective skin-whitening agent that could be a potent candidate material in the cosmetic industry.
Key words Panax ginseng; picrionoside A; melanogenesis; tyrosinasePanax ginseng C. A. MEYER is a very famous traditional medicinal herbs and many studies have reported the chemical constituents of the root of P. ginseng. The more than 120 kinds of ginsenosides have been isolated and studies the various beneficial bioactive effects such as a immunomodulatory, nutritional fortification, anti-diabetic, anti-carcinogenic as well as anti-oxidant activities. [1][2][3][4][5] Although the ginsenoside has a major compounds of P. ginseng and represents the most therapeutic values of P. ginseng, recent attentions are given into the other compounds such as a polysaccharide, phytosterols, peptides, polyacetylenes, fatty acid and polyacetylenic alcohol.