Fig. 1.

Ginseng root and ginseng berry extracts inhibit melanin accumulation by lowering tyrosinase activity. (A) MNT1 cells were treated with the ginseng root extract or the ginseng berry extract for 48 h, and the melanin levels were visualized after dissolving the cell pellets in 1N NaOH. (B) The melanin levels were quantified in the dissolved cell pellets by measuring the absorbance at 490 nm with a UV-vis spectrometer (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) and normalized to the protein input. (C) The tyrosinase activity was measured at 490 nm using a UV-vis spectrometer with melanin synthesized from L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) by the tyrosinase present in the equal amounts of cell lysates (10 μg). Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. * p < 0.05 by two–tailed Student t test.