**5.14 Anti-melanogenic effect**

The methanol extract derived from seeds of *P. vera* has been documented to have anti-melanogenic effects against human Melanoma SKMEL-3 cells. The consequence of MPH on the content of melanin, the activity of cellular tyrosinase as well as cytotoxicity (MTT assay) of the SKMEL-3 human melanoma cell was assessed, followed by 72 hours incubation. Findings demonstrated that MPH has powerful radical DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) scavenging activity and low anti-tyrosinase function in comparison with the prominent antioxidant (BHT) and tyrosinase (kojic acid) inhibitors, respectively. MPH demonstrated substantial cytotoxic activity (~63 percent) with a large dose (0.5 mg/mL) and powerful anti-melanogenic influence (~57 percent) in SKMEL-3 cells. The consequence of MPH on melanin reduction may be attributed to its cytotoxicity. Thus it can be concluded from the findings that MPH may be used as a potential agent to treat hyperpigmentation conditions such as melanoma [98].
