In an attempt to find natural sources of antioxidants and whitening agents, Comparisons of the antioxidative and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of various ethanol extracts of Astragali Radix, Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba and Acanthopanacis Cortex were carried out. Comparison of the four ethanol extracts revealed that, Astragali Radix had the highest electron-donating ability(72.5%) and the highest SOD-like ability(26.1%). The xanthine oxidase experiment exhibited a hindrance effect of 88.5% in Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba, 81.1% in Acanthopanacis Cortex, 75.8% in Astragali Radix. A tyrosinase inhibitory activity assay was conducted to evaluate the whitening effects of the extracts, The tyrosinase inhibitory activity was 42.1% in the Acanthopanacis Cortex, 37.2% in the Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba, 6.0% in the Astragali Radix. Based on these results, we suggest that the ethanol extracts of Astragali Radix, Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba and Acanthopanacis Cortex can be used as food and cosmetic ingredients.

This study investigated that anti-browning effects of Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba extract and L-cysteine combination. Mushrooms were dipped in solutions (0.1% Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba extract containing 0.05% L-cysteine) for 3 min. The dipped mushrooms were packaged in a polystyrene (PS) tray and wrapped with a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film, and stored for 14 days at 10℃. The browning inhibition activity (Hunter L, a, b color scale and tyrosinase inhibition activity) and quality changes (weight loss rate, gas composition, firmness and sensory evaluation) were analyzed during storage period. After 14 days, the Hunter L and ΔE value of mushrooms treated in 0.1% Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba extract containing 0.05% L-cysteine were 87.24 and 5.56, respectively. The mushrooms treated with 0.1% Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba extract containing 0.05% L-cysteine also showed higher firmness (13.31 N) and smaller weight loss rate (2.87%) than the untreated mushroom (11.42 N, 3.04%) on storage day 14. During storage period, the sensory evaluation showed that overall acceptability of mushrooms treated with 0.1% Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba extract containing 0.05% L-cysteine were higher than those of the untreated mushrooms, except those that were stored for five days. Overall, the mushrooms treated with 0.1% Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba extract containing 0.05% L-cysteine had a higher tyrosinase inhibition activity than the untreated mushrooms during storage period. This study suggests that the browning of the mushrooms treated with 0.1% Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba extract containing 0.05% L-cysteine solution were inhibited, and the that their shelf life was extended.