Anti-aging activities of <i>Pyrus pyrifolia</i> var culta plant callus extract

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the anti-aging properties of callus extract from Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta with skin regeneration and lightening activities.Methods: Callus extract of P. pyrifolia var. culta was produced on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with picloram, followed by extraction of the callus biomass in phosphate-buffered saline. The anti-oxidant activity of the extract was assessed using the DPPH free radical-scavenging assay. Inhibition of skin pigmentation by callus extract was evaluated by measuring the melanogenesis of melanoma cells. The skin-regenerating efficacy of the extract was evaluated in terms of its ability to promote procollagen synthesis and fibroblast cell proliferation.Results: The callus extract, at 10 mg/mL, exhibited 78.7 % free radical-scavenging activity, equivalent to that exhibited by 500 μM ascorbic acid. The 1 mg/mL extract solution afforded a 1.4-fold greater reduction in melanocyte melanin than did a 1 mg/mL arbutin solution. Fibroblast cells treated with 5 mg/mL callus extract exhibited 127 % higher levels of proliferation and 2.0-fold higher levels of procollagen type I C-peptide synthesis, respectively, compared with the untreated controls.Conclusion: These findings suggest that the callus extract of P. pyrifolia var. culta may be useful as a source of anti-aging cosmetic components with skin lightening and regenerating activities.Keywords: P. pyrifolia var. culta, Anti-aging, Callus extract, Skin lightening, Anti-tyrosinase activity, Melanogenesis, Wound recovery, Procollagen type I C-peptide synthesis