Enhancement of Skin Whitening Activities of Aronia melanocarpa by Ultrasonication Extraction Process at Low Temperature

The ultrasonication process (UE) was employed to efficiently extract relatively hard fruits of A. melanocarpa (Aronia) by comparing the results from conventional extractions: hot water (WE), 70% ethanol extractions (EE). 104.5 mg ml(-1) of the highest total polyphenol content was observed from the UE process as well as high amounts of two anthocyanins in A. melanocarpa such as cyanidin and dephinidin which should result in the best antioxidant activities as 70.93 % in DPPH free radical scavenging ability. Approximately 70% inhibition of melanin synthesis was also observed in adding the extracts from the UE which was also highest inhibition. It was also found that the whitening activities of the extract from the UE seemed to be better than those of each of components like cyanidin and dephinidin which implies that the extract might be effective in maintaining its biological activities rather than using each of single components, possibly due to synergistic effects of the bioactive substances in the extracts. It was also first shown that the whitening activities of the extract from the UE process were possibly associated with strong antioxidant activities of A. melanocarpa.