Stalked sea squirt (Styela clava) tunic waste as a valuable bioresource: Cosmetic and antioxidant activities

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the skin aging related-enzyme inhibitory effects and antioxidant effects of different solvent extracts of the tunics of the solitary ascidian tunicate Styela clava, which are regarded as fishery waste. All extracts dose-dependently inhibited the enzyme activities of collagenase, elastase and hyaluronidase. The anticollagenase activities (IC50) of hot water (5.058mg/ml) and n-butanol (5.760mg/ml) extracts were comparable to that of ascorbic acid (3.838mg/ml), but lower than that of EDTA (10.856mg/ml). The antielastase activities (IC50) of ethanol (0.356mg/ml), acetone (1.668mg/ml), and n-butanol (2.040mg/ml) extracts were much lower than that of ursolic acid (4.073mg/ml), a representative elastase inhibitor, and the antihyaluronidase activities of ethyl acetate (0.210mg/ml) and hexane (0.596mg/ml) extracts were lower than that of ketoprofen, a well-known hyaluronidase inhibitor. Hot water extract scavenged ABTS radicals with an IC50 value of 0.192mg/ml, which was comparable to that of ascorbic acid (0.052mg/ml). These results suggest that S. clava tunics (SCTs) are a potential candidate for wrinkle-care cosmetics and for the treatment of inflammation-related disorders. As far as we are aware, this is the first report to describe the potential antiaging activity of SCT.