Fucoxanthin: A Natural Treasure from The Sea with Dual Benefits - Antioxidant and Anti-melanogenic Activities

Whitening cosmetics with anti melanogenesis activity are very popular in the world. Many studies are trying to identity new ingredients that exhibit antimelanogenesis effect for the developing of new products. There has been a rapid increase in the use of natural anti hyperpigmentation agents from marine sources for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. The aims of this review is to provide an overview of the antioxidant and anti melanogenesis effect of brown seaweed which contains a large amount of fucoxanthin as a skin whitening agent. Fucoxanthin from brown algae sources has also developed for use in cosmetics. Most of the articles we reviewed lack detailed investigations of molecular target, which are essential for meeting the criteria of cosmetic and pharmaceutical use. Recently, several carotenoids have been discovered from brown seaweed by examining their anti-melanogenesis and mechanisms. Despite the rarity of in vivo and clinical investigations of marine molecular mechanism algae derivates whitening agents. The novelty of this review is to discuss fucoxanthin as a major carotenoid in brown algae as an antioxidant and anti-melanogenesis. An anti-melanogenesis test is generally preceded by an antioxidants activity test. Almost all brown algae have a good antioxidant effect (compared to control). This suggests that brown seaweed has antioxidant properties. In addition, the melanogenesis effecf of brown algae was better compared to the control