Abstract

Tyrosinase is a key enzyme for synthesis of melanin pigments which is present in plants and animals. Several synthetic and naturally occurring tyrosinase inhibitors have been studied for skin whitening but the development of natural agents is becoming more important due to the disadvantages of synthetics such as high cytotoxicity, insufficient penetrating power, and low activity. Despite the benefits of insects as an alternative protein source, considering the reluctance of eating insects and problematic food security, it is easier to use insects as products for the skin than edible food sources. However, among the various plant and animal sources, a few insects have been investigated to test the content of tyrosinase inhibitors. According to recent research, mealworm has great potential as a source of bioactive compounds which could be used as cosmetics, food, and pharmaceutical agents. Especially, because it is known that mealworm extract has tyrosinase inhibition activity, mealworm extracts could be wildly used as cosmetics materials.