Kojic acid and Organic compound

Kojic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOCH2C5H2O2OH.It is a derivative of 4-pyrone that occurs in nature as a chelating agent produced by various fungi, especially Aspergillus oryzae, whose common name in Japan is koji.Kojic acid is a by-product of the fermentation process of germinated rice used to make sake, the Japanese rice wine.It is a mild inhibitor of pigment formation in plant and animal tissues and is used in food and cosmetics to preserve or change the color of substances.Form bright red complexes with iron ions.

Applications

Kojic acid is used in cut fruit to prevent oxidative browning, in seafood to preserve pinks and reds, and in cosmetics to brighten skin. As an example of the latter, it is used in the treatment of skin conditions such as melasma.Kojic acid also has antibacterial and antifungal properties.Co-crystals of kojic acid with quercetin have two-fold increased cytotoxic activity against human cervical cancer cells (HeLa) and human colon cancer cells (Caco-2) compared to quercetin itself.

Other effects

Kojic acid has been shown to protect Chinese hamster ovary cells from damage caused by ionizing radiation.When exposed to a lethal dose of 3 Gy of gamma radiation, kojic acid-pretreated dogs had a 51-day survival rate of 66.7%, while controls died within 16 days.

Organic compound

In chemistry, many authors consider an organic compound to be any compound containing carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds, although the definition of “organic” versus “inorganic” varies between authors and is a topic of debate.For example, methane (CH4) is considered organic, but whether some other carbon-containing compounds are organic or inorganic varies between authors, such as carbon halides without carbon-hydrogen bonds (such as carbon tetrachloride CCl4), and some compounds carbon Combinations with nitrogen and oxygen (such as the cyanide ion CN- and the carbonate ion CO2-3, generally considered inorganic).

Due to carbon’s ability to link (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known.The study of the properties, reactions and synthesis of organic compounds constitutes the discipline known as organic chemistry.For historical reasons, some carbon-containing compounds (such as carbonates and cyanide salts), with some exceptions (such as carbon dioxide, and even hydrogen cyanide, although it contains carbon-hydrogen bonds), are generally not classified as organic compounds and are generally considered is inorganic.Apart from those just mentioned, there is little consensus among chemists on which carbon-containing compounds are excluded, making any strict definition of organic compounds elusive.

Although organic compounds make up only a small portion of the Earth’s crust, they are vital because all known life is based on organic compounds.Organisms incorporate inorganic carbon compounds into organic compounds through a series of processes (the carbon cycle) that begin with the conversion of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sources (such as water) into simple sugars and other organic compounds by autotrophic organisms using light (photosynthesis) or other methods Molecular energy source.Most synthetically produced organic compounds ultimately originate from petrochemicals consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, which themselves are formed by the high-pressure and high-temperature degradation of subsurface organic matter over geological timescales.Despite this final derivation, organic compounds are no longer defined as those of biological origin, as they were historically.In chemical nomenclature, an organic radical, usually designated by the letter R, refers to any monovalent substituent whose valence is on a carbon atom.