Abstract:

Tyrosinase inhibitors are widely used as food additives for fruit and vegetable preservation. Five symmetric
curcumin analogs were synthesized by condensation reaction between aromatic aldehydes and 2-indanone under appropriate
conditions. The inhibitory activity of the curcumin analogues on tyrosinase was evaluated by ultraviolet spectrophotometry.
The results showed that these curcumin analogues had powerful inhibitory effects on tyrosinase. The IC50 of A2, A3 and A4 were
25.42, 13.51 μmol/L and 10.71 μmol/L, respectively, which were evidently lower than that of kojic acid (IC50 = 28.59 μmol/L).

Key words: food additive, 2-indanone-based curcumin analogs, tyrosinase inhibition, curcumin