Cyrene^TM as a tyrosinase inhibitor and anti-browning agent

The tyrosinase pathway takes part in the enzymatic process of food browning and is primarily responsible for food spoilage - manifesting itself from a decrease in its nutritional value to a deterioration of taste, which consequently leads to a gradual loss of shelf life. Finding safe and bio-based tyrosinase inhibitors and antibrowning agents may be of great importance in agriculture and food industries. Herein, we showed that CyreneTM exhibits tyrosinase inhibitory activity (IC50: 268.2 mu M), the 1.44 times higher than ascorbic acid (IC50: 386.5 mu M). Binding mode studies demonstrated that the carbonyl oxygen of CyreneTM coordinates with both copper ions. Surprisingly, both hydroxyl groups of Cyrene gem-diol perform a monodentate binding mode with both copper ions, at similar distances. This fact suggests that both compounds could have a similar binding mode and, as consequence, similar biological activities in tyrosinase inhibition assays and anti-browning activities.