ABSTRACT
In this study, lyophilized and methanolic extracts of aloe gel from different germplasms were evaluated for their potential to inhibit mushroom tyrosinase activity. The results showed potent inhibitory effect of Aloe vera gel extracts on L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) oxidation catalyzed by tyrosinase in a dose-dependent manner. Significant differences in % inhibition of tyrosinase among the extraction methods and the germplasms were observed. The relative performance of the germplasms was evaluated with the help of posthoc multicomparison test. The methanolic extract was more effective than the lyophilized crude gel in all the germplasms. The inhibitory effect of the lyophilized gel and methanolic extract tested from five germplasms followed the order: RM > TN > S24 > OR > RJN. The germplasm RM showed the highest tyrosinase inhibition, and the maximum % inhibition noted was 26.04% and 41.18%, respectively for the lyophilized and methanolic extracts at 6 mg · mL(-1) concentration. Lineweaver-Burk plots of the different concentrations of L-DOPA in the absence and presence of lyophilized gel extract showed competitive inhibition of mushroom tyrosinase in all the germplasms. This study suggests that the germplasm RM could potentially be used for the isolation and identification of the effective tyrosinase inhibitory component, and ascertains the critical role of selecting the best source of germplasm for natural product isolation and characterization.