Tyrosinase inhibitors isolated from the roots of Paeonia suffruticosa.

The inhibition of mushroom tyrosinase by Paeonia suffruticosa root-derived materials was evaluated. Six tyrosinase inhibitors were isolated by ethanol extraction, n-hexane, ethyl acetate, n-BuOH, and water partition, silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20, Lobar PR-8, and high-performance liquid chromatography methods, and they were identified as kaempferol (I), quercetin (II), mudanpioside B (III), benzoyloxypaeoniflorin (IV), mudanpioside H (V), and pentagalloyl-beta-(D)-glucose (VI) on the basis of spectroscopic evidence. The inhibitory activities of compounds I to VI against mushroom tyrosinase were determined with IC(50) values of 0.120, 0.108, 0.368, 0.453, 0.324, and 0.063 mM, respectively. The kinetic study indicated that all purified inhibitors acted competitively for the L-dopa binding site of the enzyme, with an exception of compound VI, which acted non-competitively.