In vitro anti-ageing activities of ethanolic extracts from Pink rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum Linn.) for skin applications

Korawinwich Boonpisuttinant; Ratakorn Srisuttee; Heng Yen Khong; Romchat Chutoprapat; Warintorn Ruksiriwanich; Sarinporn Udompong; Wirinda Chompoo; Rattiya Boonbai; Rattikarl Rakkaew; Jinapa Sangsee; Ketsani Sriprasert; Waraporn Malilas

doi:10.1016/j.jsps.2023.02.006

In vitro anti-ageing activities of ethanolic extracts from Pink rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum Linn.) for skin applications

Saudi Pharm J. 2023 Apr;31(4):535-546. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2023.02.006. Epub 2023 Mar 12.

Affiliations

¹ Innovative Natural Products from Thai Wisdom Research Unit, Faculty of Integrative Medicine, Rajamangala University of Technology, Thanyaburi, Pathumthani 12130, Thailand.
² Faculty of Medicine, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand.
³ Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sarawak Branch, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia.
⁴ Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
⁵ Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50000, Thailand.
⁶ Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand.

Abstract

Skin ageing is characterized by features such as wrinkles, loss of elasticity, laxity, rough-textured appearance, melasma and freckles. Several researches have focused for preventing, and treating skin ageing by many natural ingredients. This study aimed to assess the anti-ageing activities for anti-skin ageing of the ethanolic extracts of Pink rambutan (PR) (Nephelium lappaceum Linn.) from leaves (L), branches (B), seeds (S), and peels from ripe (R) and young (Y) fruits. The extraction yields of all Pink Rambutan (PR) extracted by the Maceration (M) and the Soxhlet extraction (Sox) using 95% ethanol as a solvent, ranged from 10.62% to 30.63%. Flavonoids were found as the main phytochemicals in almost all the PR extracts. The PR-Y-M and PR-Y-Sox extracts gave the highest total phenolic contents by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay of 67.60 ± 4.38 mgGAE/g, and total flavonoid contents by the modified aluminum chloride colorimetric assay of 678.72 ± 23.59 mgQE/g, respectively. The PR-L-M extracts showed the highest three anti-oxidative activities; the free radical scavenging (SC₅₀ of 0.320 ± 0.070 mg/mL), the lipid peroxidation inhibition (LC₅₀ of 0.274 ± 0.029 mg/mL), and the metal chelation activity (MC₅₀ of 0.203 ± 0.021 mg/mL). All the PR extracts at 0.01 and 0.1 mg/mL showed no cytotoxicity on B₁₆F₁₀ cells, and human skin fibroblasts, respectively. Likewise, the PR-R-Sox extract exhibited the highest anti-melanogenesis on B₁₆F₁₀ cells (52.7 ± 0.9%) and, the mushroom tyrosinase inhibition activity (IC₅₀ of 0.04 ± 0.02 mg/mL), which was significantly comparable to kojic acid (p < 0.05). The PR-Y-Sox extract showed the collagen biosynthesis by the Sirius Red method, and the stimulation of anti-ageing genes (Sirt1 and Foxo1) on human skin fibroblasts by the RT-PCR method, which were similar to standards ʟ-ascorbic acid and resveratrol, respectively. This study suggests that the PR-R-Sox and PR-Y-Sox extracts can be further developed as natural anti-ageing agents for whitening and anti-wrinkle in the cosmetics, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical industries.

Keywords: Anti-wrinkles; Antioxidants; Nephelium lappaceum L.; Sapindaceae; Whitening.