Inhibitory Activities of Protein Hydrolysates from Spotted Babylon Snails on Tyrosinase and Melanogenesis

The optimal conditions for protein hydrolysates preparation from spotted babylon Babylonia areolata exhibiting tyrosinase inhibitory activity and antioxidant activity using alkaline protease (Protease G6) were undiluted Protease G6 (5.8 × 10⁵ DU/g) at 60 min of hydrolysis time and eightfold diluted Protease G6 (7.25 × 10⁴ DU/g) at 240 min of hydrolysis time. These two conditions were fractioned using molecular weight (MW) cutoff values of 10, 5, and 3 kDa membranes, and their anti-melanogenic and antioxidant properties were further analyzed. Among the fractions, the MW < 3 kDa fraction exhibited high levels of inhibitory activity toward the mono- and diphenolase activities of tyrosinase, with IC₅₀ values of 1.758 and 8.995 μg/mL, respectively. Kinetic studies revealed that this fraction behaved as an uncompetitive inhibitor. The results demonstrated that the MW < 3 kDa fraction suppressed melanin synthesis and decreased cellular tyrosinase activity with no cytotoxicity to B16F10 melanoma cells.