A Study on the Antioxidant, Antibacterial Activity, and Whitening Effects of Lithospermum Root Extract

To improve the utilization value of Lithospermum Root as a cosmetic material, the study investigated the antioxidant, antibacterial activity, intracellular tyrosinase activity, and melanin biosynthesis inhibitory effects of an Lithospermum Root ethanol extract. As a result, the antioxidant effect showed a 72.5% free radical scavenging at a concentration of 10,000 μg/ml, and the free radical scavenging (FSC)50 value was 4815.90 μg/ml. The antibacterial activity showed an inhibitory effect on all skin flora, S. epidermidis (9.3-14.6 mm), E. coli (10.7-14.6 mm), and P. acnes (9.5-15.2 mm). The viability of B16-F10 cells ranged from 104.9% to 110.1% up to a concentration of 1,000 μg/ml, and a whitening experiment was performed based on this result. At a concentration of 1,000 μg/ml, the intracellular tyrosinase activity inhibition rate was 37.28%, and the melanin synthesis inhibition rate was 30.09%. As a result, it was confirmed that the Lithospermum Root ethanol extract has a significant effect on antioxidant, antibacterial activity, and whitening, and thus has high utilization value as a functional whitening raw material for cosmetics. In the future, analysis of the physiologically active components of the ethanol extract of Lithospermum Root, verification of the efficacy of each component's whitening action, and mechanism studies will be considered necessary.