Figure 1.

Tyrosinase inhibition by 4‐substituted phenols. (a) Chemical structure of the 4‐substituted phenols analyzed. (b) Tyrosinase inhibition assay with L‐DOPA in the absence (O) or presence of 100 µM BOP or PhP (●) or 300 µM BOP or PhP (■), showing increased absorbance of the reaction mixture at 475 nm in the presence of PhP and suggesting increased dopachrome formation and tyrosinase activity by PhP. Lower panel: Effect of 4‐substituted phenols on the absorbance at 475 nm in the tyrosinase L‐DOPA assay, quantified as area under the curve (AUC) and normalized to tyrosinase activity in the absence of phenol. (c) Inhibitory effect of 4‐substituted phenols on tyrosinase activity as measured in the MBTH assay