Abstract: We employed zebrafish model to evaluate melanin inhibition activities of Vc and sodium erythorbate by phenotypebased evaluation, pigmentation area calculation and relative tyrosinase activity determination. We initially used a known natural active substance, arbutin, to prove the feasibility of the method. We then performed the test for Vc and sodium erythorbate after getting the expected results. Experimental results show that Vc solution has no significant effect on the synthesis of zebrafish melanin in nonlethal concentration scope (0.01~5 mmol/L). Higher concentration of sodium erythorbate solution has considerable effect on the synthesis of zebrafish melanin (p≤0.05), but higher concentration of sodium erythorbate solution (≥0.3 mol/L) can easily cause morphological abnormality.

Key words: zebrafish, melanin, arbutin, Vc, sodium erythorbate