3.4.3. Tyrosinase Inhibition Capacity

The extracts capacity to inhibit tyrosinase activity can be translated into their potential as skin whitening and anti-hyperpigmentation agents, since melanin production is impaired when this enzyme is inhibited, resulting in a less pigmented skin [66]. In this study, the flower extract was the most active (with an IC50 of 4.85 ± 0.07 mg/mL), but still not as effective as kojic acid (IC50 of 0.078 ± 0.001 mg/mL), the depigmenting agent used as a positive control (Table 7). The high percentage of flavonoids present in this extract (Table 6) may justify the observed inhibitory effect. Previous studies reported that plant extracts rich in flavonoids have a strong suppressive impact on tyrosinase, which enables its use in skin lightening cosmeceuticals [66]. For rind and mucilage extracts, it was not possible to calculate IC50 values, so the results were given as percentage of inhibition. The fillet did not provide any value in terms of tyrosinase inhibition. Despite this, chromones isolated from *Aloe vera*, including aloesin that was found mainly in rind and mucilage, have been reported to have tyrosinase inhibitory activity [14].
