Abstract:

E. oleracea,as the most widely distributed species in Amazon, is alsothe most intensively researched and the highly commercialized species of genus Euterpe. The fruit of E. oleracea, alsoknown as A?aí berry,has received considerable attention worldwide as it exhibited extraordinary antioxidant power in the researches reported, and therefore was regarded as a "super fruit". E. oleracea is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, and other nutrients, as well as a high concentration of bioactive phenolic compounds, such as flavonoids, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, and proanthocyanidins. Among all these nutrients and bioactive compounds, total fatty acids, linoleic acid, ferulic acid, quercetin, protocatechuic acid, and protocatechuic acid methyl ester were reported to have skin whitening effects. In vitro and in vivo experiments on E. oleracea have found that its pulp extracts exhibit potential skin whitening effects such as tyrosinase inhibiting activity and protecting skin cells against oxidative stress caused by UV irradiation. For future studies, it is recommended that the skin-whitening ingredients of Euterpe oleracea could be further excavated, and the whitening efficacy is encouraged to be verified through further animal experiments and clinical trials.

Key words: a?aí berry, E. oleracea, skin-whitening, polyphenol, fatty acid

摘要：

作为棕榈科植物Euterpe属中分布最为广泛、研究与商业化程度最高的品种，Euterpe oleracea（E. oleracea）的果实（为亚马逊莓的一种）因其卓越的抗氧化性能而跻身“超级水果”之列，同时也成为国际上新的研究热点。本文综述了E. oleracea的相关成分和作用研究现状，指出其富含不饱和脂肪酸、氨基酸、维生素等营养成分，并含有大量的以酚类化合物为主的生物活性物质，例如黄酮类化合物、酚酸、花青素与原花青素等。其中，总脂肪酸、亚油酸、阿魏酸、槲皮素、原儿茶酸、原儿茶酸甲酯等成分被证实具有皮肤美白作用。对E. oleracea进行的细胞实验和动物实验发现，其果肉提取物具有抑制酪氨酸酶活性以及使细胞免受紫外线引起的氧化应激伤害等潜在的皮肤美白功效。文章建议在未来的研究中，对E. oleracea的美白成分进行进一步挖掘，并通过动物实验与临床试验对其美白功效进行验证。

关键词: 亚马逊莓, E. oleracea, 美白, 多酚, 脂肪酸