Food-derived components as natural skin-whitening strategies: Classification, mechanisms, application forms and prospects.

BACKGROUND: Skin hyperpigmentation has attracted widespread attention. Traditional chemical skin-whitening components pose potential risks, whereas food-derived skin-whitening components are gaining increasing attention owing to their natural food sources and high biocompatibility. SCOPE AND METHODS: This review was conducted by comprehensively searching Google Scholar, Wiley, and Taylor & Francis for studies published between 2015 and 2025, with a primary focus on literature from 2020 onward. A systematic review was then performed to summarize the categories, action mechanisms, application forms, limitations, future research directions, and application prospects of food-derived skin-whitening components. KEY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: Food-derived skin-whitening components cover eight major categories including polyphenols, alkaloids and so on. These components exert skin-whitening effects through multiple pathways, including inhibition of tyrosinase (TYR) activity, regulation of melanin synthesis signaling, interference with melanosome transport, promotion of melanin degradation, and alleviation of oxidative stress and inflammation. Their application forms include oral administration and topical application. The synergistic use of these two forms can enhance the efficacy and durability of skin whitening. These components have broad prospects in functional foods, skin care products, and post-cosmetic procedure adjuvant care, and also enable the high-value utilization of food industry by-products. However, these components still face several challenges: insufficiently elucidated mechanisms of action, low bioavailability and transdermal absorption efficiency, poor stability, and a lack of long-term safety evaluations. Future research should further explore multi-target interactions, identify novel components using artificial intelligence (AI), develop intelligent delivery systems, and verify long-term safety.