α-Arbutin

A New Type Hydroquinone Glucoside with Noticeable Whitening!!!

α-Arbutin is a new type of hydroquinone glucoside with an α-glucosyl bond produced using the original transglycosylation enzyme developed by EZAKI GLICO (Japan). α-Arbutin has been used as a cosmetic whitening ingredient.
Wako supplies this highly purified α-Arbutin, which can be used as a standard for various kinds of analyses such as quantitative analysis.

Specifications:
Appearance: White powder
Solution: Clear
Specific rotation [alpha]²⁰/_D: +180 ± 6 °
Purity (HPLC): 99.0+ %

Properties:

• α-Arbutin inhibits human tyrosinase
  Arbutin, β-anomer isoform of α-Arbutin, inhibited both mushroom and human tyrosinases.
  On the other hand, α-Arbutin inhibited human tyrosinase with high specificity. The inhibitory effect of α-Arbutin on human tyrosinase is stronger than that of Arbutin. ^{(Ref. 1), 2))}


• α-Arbutin suppresses melanin production
  Darkening of the melanocytes in a three-dimensional human skin model was clearly inhibited by treatment with α-Arbutin. ^{(Ref. 4))}

References:

1. Funayama M., Arakawa H., Yamamoto R., Nishino T., Shin T., Murao S.: "Effects of α- and β-arbutin on activity of tyrosinases from mushroom and mouse melanoma", Biosci. Biotech. Biochem., 59, 143-4 (1995).


2. Sugimoto K., Nishimura T., Nomura K., Sugimoto K., Kuriki T.: "Syntheses of arbutin-α-glycosides and a comparison of their inhibitory effects with those of α-arbutin and arbutin on human tyrosinase", Chem. Pharm. Bull., 51, 798-801 (2003).


3. H. Ziegler, et al.: PERSONAL CARE, January, 15 (2003).


4. Sugimoto K., Nishimura T., Nomura K., Sugimoto K. Kuriki T.: "Inhibitory effects of α-arbutin on melanin synthesis in cultured human melanoma cells and a three-dimensional human skin model.", Biol. Pharm. Bull., 27, 510-4 (2004).


5. Sugimoto K., Nomura K, Nishimura T., Kiso T., Sugimoto K., Kuriki T.: "Syntheses of α-arbutin-α-glycosides and their inhibitory effects on human tyrosinase", J. Biosci. Bioeng., 99, 272-6 (2005).


6. K. Sugimoto, et al.: FRANGRANCE JOURNAL, 5, 60 (2005).


7. To-o K., Nomura K., Sugimoto K., Nishimura T., Kuriki T., Itoh M.: "Experimental study on cross-reactivity of α-arbutin toward p-phenylenediamine and hydroquinone in guinea pigs", J. Dermatol., 37, 455-462 (2010).