A light skin tone is considered a superior trait in most races, particularly among Asian and African women. Realising the demand for fair skin, many cosmetic companies are developing different molecules for use as skinlightening products. There are many commercial skin-lightening products readily available over-the-counter which use depigmenting agents such as hydroquinone, azelaic acid, kojic acid, vitamin C, niaciamide, corticosteroids, licorice extract, gluthathione, glycolic acid and gentisic acid (Sonthalia et al., 2016). However, several skin-lightening agents such as hydroquinone and kojic acid have been banned in cosmetic products due to their side effects on the skin, and this has led to the search for safer plant-based skin-lightening materials. The wide range and variety of available biomass is presumed to be an attractive bioresource for screening for inhibitors of melanin synthesis (Lin et al., 2007, Thongchai et al., 2007).