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. 2025 Jul 17;15(1):25947.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-03568-6.

Skin whitening potential of extracts from discarded cabbage outer leaves

Hamin Lee  1   2 , Kichan Kim  1   2 , Kyungtae Park  1   2 , Bo-Kook Jang  3 , Ju-Sung Cho  4   5
Affiliations

Skin whitening potential of extracts from discarded cabbage outer leaves

Hamin Lee et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The outer leaves (OL) of Brassica oleracea var. capitata (cabbage) are often discarded as agricultural waste despite their potential health benefits. This study evaluated the skin-whitening, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities of cabbage OL extract (OLE) and compared them with those of cabbage head extract (CHE). OLE exhibited significantly higher levels of total polyphenols, flavonoids, and glucosinolates than did CHE, leading to excellent radical scavenging activities. Additionally, OLE demonstrated strong anti-inflammatory activity by reducing nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Notably, tyrosinase inhibition activity of OLE reached 100.4% with respect to that of ascorbic acid, a well-known skin-whitening agent. Vitamin C and trace amounts of sulforaphane in OLE, which were absent in CHE, probably contributed to these effects. These findings suggest that cabbage OL, an agricultural byproduct, holds significant promise as a functional ingredient for health products and cosmetics, highlighting its potential for waste valorization.

Keywords: Agricultural waste; Erucin; Functional cosmetic materials; Glucosinolate; Sulforaphane; Tyrosinase Inhibition activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Images of the cabbage head (CH) and outer leaves (OL) used in this experiment. Scale bar, 10 cm.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
TPC and TFC contents (a) and DPPH and ABTS scavenging activities (b) of cabbage head extract (CHE) and outer leaves extract (OLE). Different letters indicate a significant difference (t-test, P < 0.05). Bars represent standard error (n = 3).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Effects of cabbage head extract (CHE) and outer leaves extract (OLE) on cell viability (a) and nitric oxide production (b) of RAW 264.7 macrophages. QCT, quercetin of 25 µM. Different lowercase letters indicate a significant difference (Tukey’s HSD test, P < 0.05). Bars represent standard error (n = 6).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Analysis of tyrosinase inhibitory activities of cabbage head extract (CHE) and outer leaves extract (OLE). The concentration of positive control ascorbic acid (AsA) was 1 mg mL− 1. Different lowercase letters indicate a significant difference (Tukey’s HSD test, P < 0.05). Bars represent standard error (n = 3).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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