A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON A SKIN-BRIGHTENING AGENT KOJIC ACID AND ITS APPLICATIONS

Main Article Content

Prantika Mondal
Dr. Vijay Bhalla
Reena Tyagi

Keywords

hyperpigmentation, tyrosinase inhibitor, food industry, de-pigmentation, kojic acid, melasma

Abstract

This article reviews the Kojic Acid (KA) as a skin-brightening agent which produced industrially by Aspergillus species in aerobic fermentation and its application in the cosmetics industry. In 1907, Saito discovered KA, a natural product; it has since become one of the most investigated skin-brightening agents. The KA plays an important role in determining certain chemical and physical properties it possesses. KA has different applications in various fields. These days kojic acid performs a vital function, prevention of UV radiation it extensively utilized in whitening creams and lotions because of its anti-tyrosinase activity. It shows other utilization as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic agent in the medical field, an anti-bacterial agent in food industry, and an anti-browning agent for agriculture products. It also has some drawbacks, such as the KA is highly unstable upon exposure air and sunlight it changes its color and the other drawback is cytotoxicity which may be overcome by way of the formation of kojic acid peptides which are more stable. It was shown to be helpful in the treatment of hyper pigmentary disorders, such as freckles, age spots, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and melasma, which has been proven clinically.

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