1Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Indonesian School of Pharmacy (Sekolah Tinggi Farmasi Indonesia), Soekarno Hatta No.354, Bandung, 40256, West Java, Indonesia
2Department of Biotechnology, Indonesia School of Pharmacy (Sekolah Tinggi Farmasi Indonesia), Soekarno Hatta No.354, Bandung, 40256, West Java, Indonesia
3Department of Pharmacy, Universitas Islam Negeri Alaudin, Sultan Alauddin No. 63, Makassar, Indonesia
*Corresponding Author E-mail: saninurlaela@stfi.ac.id
Online Published on 30 October, 2025.
Cascara is a very abundant by-product of coffee. Coffee cascara contains antioxidant compounds. Antioxidant compounds can protect the skin from sun exposure and free radicals which can cause increased melanin production resulting in hyperpigmentation. Although there has been no specific research on antihyperpigmentation cascara extract from Robusta coffea, several studies have shown that antioxidant compounds and inhibitor tyrosinase can help reduce hyperpigmentation on the skin. The current study investigates the antioxidant capacities of cascara from Robusta coffea, its phytochemical profile, caffeine content, and examines the potential interaction of caffeine with the tyrosinase in human skin using an insilico approach.
The extraction process was carried out using the Soxhlet method with a sequential increase in solvents (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol). The extract obtained was evaluated for antioxidant activity by DPPH and CUPRAC methods, preliminary phytochemical screening, and total phenolic content (TPC). Caffeine content was measured by HPLC. The potential of caffeine in the inhibition of tyrosinase enzyme was evaluated by molecular docking with kojic acid as the standard of inhibitor tyrosinase.
Based on the Antioxidant Activity Index (AAI) DPPH and CUPRAC, cascara extract from Robusta coffea had moderate to strong antioxidant categories. Phytochemical screening of n-hexane extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, quinones, and steroid/triterpenoids while in ethanol and ethyl acetate extract revealed the presence of alkaloid, phenol group, flavonoid, quinones, and steroid/triterpenoid. TPC in cascara extract from Robusta was 2.334 to 10.44 g GAE/100 g extract. Caffeine content by HPLC in ethanol extract was 0.6613% ± 0.007. The interaction of kojic acid and caffeine with tyrosinase enzyme was -5.7 and -5.8 kcal/mol.
Ethanol cascara extract from Robusta coffea has more potential for anti-hyperpigmentation through the inhibition of free radicals by antioxidant compounds and the inhibition of tyrosinase. This is worthy of further investigation in the future.
Cascara, Robusta, Caffeine, Antihyperpigmentation
