Volume 2 • Issue 3 • 1000132 Nat Prod Chem Res ISSN: 2329-6836 NPCR, an open access journal Wahab et al., Nat Prod Chem Res 2014, 2:3 DOI: 10.4172/2329-6836.1000132 Research Article Open Access Assessment of Antioxidant Capacity, Anti-collagenase and Anti-elastase Assays of Malaysian Unfermented Cocoa Bean for Cosmetic Application Norliza Abdul Wahab 1,3 *, Russly Abdul Rahman 1 , Amin Ismail 2 , Shuhaimi Mustafa 1 and Puziah Hashim 1 1 Halal Products Research Institute, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Putra Infoport, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences,Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 3 Malaysian Cocoa Board, Cocoa Innovation & Technology Centre, Lot Pt 12621, Nilai Industrial Park, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. *Corresponding author: Norliza Abdul Wahab, Halal Products Research Institute, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Putra Infoport, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia, Tel: 6016-6470-078; E-mail: naw@koko.gov.my Received March 19, 2014; Accepted April 18, 2014; Published April 22, 2014 Citation: Wahab NA, Rahman RA, Ismail A, Mustafa S, Hashim P (2014) Assessment of Antioxidant Capacity, Anti-collagenase and Anti-elastase Assays of Malaysian Unfermented Cocoa Bean for Cosmetic Application. Nat Prod Chem Res 2 :132. doi:10.4172/2329-6836.1000132 Copyright: © 2014 Wahab NA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction Malaysia was the fourth largest producer of cocoa worldwide in the early 1990’s [1]. Unfortunately, declining of cocoa bean production in Malaysia since the decade has raised concern of economic viability and sustainability of the cocoa planting industry. Apart from low prices, Cocoa Pod Borer (CPB) infestation and labor issue which were ofen quoted as reasons for the loss of interest shown in the crop have been identifed as the major factors responsible for its decline. Two potential Malaysian cocoa clones, namely PBC140 and PBC123, known for their high yield, i.e. 1,677 and 1,453 kg/ha/year, respectively and high resistance against Vascular Streak Disease (VSD) and CBP infestation, gained lot of attentions for the past few years [2]. Azizah et al. [3] in their study have reported that in accordance to the West African beans, Malaysian beans are traded at a lower price due to inadequate standard of cocoa aroma, astringency and bitter taste characteristics. One of the factors to such occurrence might be due to its high amount of phenolic substances. Moreover, unfermented beans contain signifcant amount of phenolic content (12-18% w/w) [4] with 60% are comprised of favanol monomers (epicatechin and catechin) and procyanidin oligomers (dimer to decamer). Nowadays, the number of natural products that has been used for the development of skin care products is in the increasing trend. Most of these natural products have been proven to exhibit signifcant antioxidant [5], emollient (María Elena et al.,) [6] as well as for ultraviolet (UV) protection [7] which are crucial for skin care product formulation. Te properties are most probably due to the presence of particular phytochemicals, e.g. an antioxidant, in the natural products as active compound. Moreover, natural ingredients are easier to be absorbed by the superfcial layers of the skin, thus can lower skin allergy problems. An antioxidant is characterized by any chemical substance which, when observed at relatively low concentration in the body, could decrease or prevent oxidation of substrates [8]. Polyphenols were reported as one of the potent antioxidant besides other common dietary antioxidants, such as ascorbic acid, vitamin E, β-carotene and selenium. Epidemiological studies showed many of the polyphenols exhibit a wide range of biological efects such as an antibacterial, antiviral, anti-infammatory, anti-allergic, antiradical, anti-aging, vitamin C protection against Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and reduction of α-tocopheryl radical. Tere has been encouraging plant sources associated with polyphenols content like fruits, vegetables [9-11]. Cocoa beans have been said to contain signifcant amount of polyphenols particularly epicatechin and catechin which were reported as a potential candidate in free radicals scavenging either present in our body system or inner layer of the skin stratum corneum [12]. It is interesting to note that aging can be slowed down, or even stopped for a while and sometimes it can be reversed. Apparently, a study by Lee et al. (2012). on Labisia pumila exhibited that the antioxidant-containing extract worked as a photo protective agent against ROS attacks generated by UV exposure, hence extrinsic aging can be avoided. According to [13], polyphenols have been spectrophotometrically showed high antioxidant properties via free radical scavenging, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and β-carotene bleaching activities and proven to be highly correlated with anti-collagenase and anti-elastase activities. In another study conducted on isolated green tea (Camellia sinensis), polyphenols such as catechin and epigallocatechin gallate have been found to be the inhibitors of collagenase and elastase, subsequently decreasing skin wrinkles [14]. Additionally, cocoa polyphenols have been proven Abstract Recent trends in anti-aging research projected the use of antioxidant compound derived from botanical products. Phenolic acids, favonoids and high molecular weight polyphenols are some of antioxidants which are able to protect human skin against the harmful effects of ultraviolet irradiation, i.e. photoaging and skin cancer development. Various studies have demonstrated cocoa beans to contain polyphenols and possess health promoting effects mainly on antiradical property. In this study, the HPLC/DAD quantifcation of (–)-epicatechin from PBC123 and PBC140 Malaysian unfermented cocoa bean extracts (CBEs) were 121.01 and 118.09 mg/g DW, whereas concentration of (+)-catechin were 6.65 and 6.53 mg/g DW, respectively with no signifcant differences (p>0.05). In term of antioxidant capacity, Ferric reducing/antioxidant power of the respective clones were assayed at 822.10 and 795.99 mM FeSO 4 /g DW. Inhibition of proteinases expression induces by reactive oxygen species were exhibited in the anti-collagenase and anti-elastase assays. The anti-collagenase activity of PBC123 and PBC140 were 62.99% and 59.96% whereas anti-elastase has been measured at 36.60% and 15.75%, respectively. Positive and high correlation were observed within epicatechin content (1), FRAP (2) and anti-collagenase (3) with signifcant relationships for both PBC123 and PBC140 (r12=0.901, r13=0.768 and r23=0.908). A statistical One-Way ANOVA showed that there was no signifcant difference obtained between PBC123 and PBC140 in terms of epicatechin, FRAP and anti-collagenase assays, however, signifcant difference was observed from anti-elastase assessment (p<0.05).These results indicate unfermented PBC123 clone as a potential source of natural ingredient in a cosmetic industry. N a t u r a l P r o d u c t s C h e m i s t r y & R e s e a r c h ISSN: 2329-6836 Natural Products Chemistry & Research