Tyrosinase is a multifunctional copper-containing enzyme widely distributed in microorganisms as well as plants and animals which has a primordial role in melanin biosynthesis thus impacting on skin color and pigmentation. This specific enzyme has the ability to catalyze the hydroxylation of L-tyrosine toL-DOPA and further oxidize L-DOPA to dopaquinones which are considered as boosters of melanogenesis. Considering the medical and cosmetic sector,a great number of researches focused on the isolation of tyrosinase inhibitors from both terrestrial and marine environment belonging to diverse chemical classes such as phenolics (flavonoids, lignans, or stilbenes,coumarins, arylbenzofurans, and tannins),megastigmane-type (nor-isoprenoid), terpenes, or cyclic peptides,alkaloids and steroids.
Source: phys.org