earticle

영어

Citron (Citrus junos Sieb ex TANAKA) is a citrus fruit that is cultivated in northeast Asia. Citron is known for containing abundant antioxidants such as vitamin C, flavonoids, for example hesperidin and hesperetin, and terpenoids such as limononin. When mature citron is processed for tea or other beverage food products in Korea, massive amounts of seeds and pericarp are remained as waste. This study was aimed to exploit the processed remnant of Citron for
developing functional cosmetic applications. Analyses of extracts of seeds and pericarp identified spots that have the same Rf values of limonin and hesperidin respetively analyzed by TLC. The two extracts did not show significant radical scavenging activities measured by DPPH(2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl) method. But citron extracts have much high content of
phenolic compounds. Cultured human dermal fibroblasts and HaCaT keratinocytes were irradiated with 25mJ UVB and the citron extracts were added to the medium of each culture. Cellular damages caused by UVB irradiation were prevented by the addition of the citron extract. In addition, the reduction of the enhanced MMP1(Matrix Metalloproteinase) expression after
irradiation of UVB in human dermal fibroblasts was observed. Also the increased level of of pro-inflammtory TNF-α in the UVB irradiated HaCaT cells were decreased. Further analyses of the effect of citron extracts on collagen production and the expression of other pro-inflammatory cytokines will be performed. In conclusion, citron extract seems to have anti-photoaging effect and are expected to be used as a potential anti-aging agent.