In this study, an in vitro tyrosinase inhibition assay in combination with ultra performance liquid chromatography-orbitrap mass spectrometry (UPLC-orbitrap-MS) was developed for the rapid screening and identification of tyrosinase modulators from roots of Angelica keiskei. Of the 15 candidates considered, nine chalcones, xanthoangelols (1), B (2), D (3), E (4), G (5), H (6), 4-hydroxyderricin (7), xanthokeismin B (8) and (2E)-1-[4-hydroxy-2-(2-hydroxy-2-propanyl)-2,3-dihydro-1-benzofuran-7-yl]-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-propen-1-one (9), five coumarins, umbelliferone (10), selinidin (11), isopimpinellin (12), phellopterin (13) and xanthyletin (14), and one other compound, ashitabaol A (15), were distinguished between the test samples and the controls with statistical significance, and the structure of each compound was determined by comparing with in-house standards and the literature. Among these, six compounds, xanthoangelol (1), xanthoangelol D (3), xanthoangelol H (6), 4-hydroxyderricin (7), laserpitin (16) and isolaserpitin (17), were isolated from roots of A. keiskei. Of the compounds isolated, compounds 1, 7 and 16 were subjected to tyrosinase inhibitory assay, and the IC50 values were 15.87 ± 1.21, 60.14 ± 2.29 and >100 μM, respectively. The present study indicated that the combination of in vitro tyrosinase inhibition assay coupled with UPLC-MS/MS could be widely applied to the rapid screening of active substances from various natural resources.
Keywords: Angelica keiskei; UPLC-MS/MS; chalcone; coumarins; tyrosinase.