Abstract

Traditionally, Lentinula edodes are used in many Asian countries for the treatment of various chronic diseases. In the current study, ethyl acetate fraction of fruit body of Lentinula edodes was obtained by standard bioassay-guided fractionation procedure. This fractionation resulted in the isolation of three bioactive compounds (compound 1 already reported, compound 2 and 3 first time reported from this mushroom) and their structures were characterized using various spectroscopic techniques. Further, all the compounds were studied using molecular docking analysis. Compounds 1, 2, 3 and standard active ingredient used for the treatment of hyperpigmentation i.e. arbutin was prepared as program database files, was docked with the target receptor (tyrosinase, program database ID: 5M8L) which plays a vital role in melanogenesis pathway. The study mainly focuses on better results of compounds as potent tyrosinase inhibitors to down-regulate the melanogenesis pathway. The present study revealed that due to the presence of compound 1 and 3 in the fruit body of Lentinula edodes, it may be preferred as a cosmetic product in extract form to obtain effective skin lightening properties or treatment of melisma. Compounds 2 and 3 was first isolated from Lentinula edodes. The study further concludes that compound 3 could act as a potential lead molecule for the target gene tyrosinase with slight modification or optimization of chemical structure to obtain more effective, less toxic lead molecule and further exhibits remarkable skin lightening properties via inhibiting melanin production.