Melanin is a hydrophobic biomolecule produced widely in fungi. Compared with other fungi, health benefits have been associated with medicinal mushrooms, which may provide an excellent source of natural melanin. Nevertheless, the hydrophobicity of melanin may limit its applications. Consequently, the present study was carried out on isolation of melanin from the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (GLM) and modification with arginine to improve its solubility. The physicochemical and biochemical properties of melanin were evaluated including structural characterization, solubility, stability, antioxidant activities, and inhibitory effect on pancreatic lipase activity. Arginine‐modified melanin showed better solubility, higher color value, stronger antioxidant activity, and stronger inhibitory effect on pancreatic lipase activity in vitro than GLM. In addition, both have good stability in the dark and natural light. These results opened possibilities for providing an excellent source of natural melanin in health food or food additives fields.

中文翻译：

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药用菌灵芝天然黑色素与精氨酸修饰黑色素理化生化特性比较

黑色素是一种广泛存在于真菌中的疏水性生物分子。与其他真菌相比，药用蘑菇对健康有益，它可能是天然黑色素的极好来源。然而，黑色素的疏水性可能会限制其应用。因此，本研究从药用蘑菇灵芝 (GLM) 中分离黑色素并用精氨酸进行修饰以提高其溶解度。评估了黑色素的理化和生化特性，包括结构特征、溶解性、稳定性、抗氧化活性和对胰脂肪酶活性的抑制作用。精氨酸修饰的黑色素在体外表现出比 GLM 更好的溶解性、更高的色值、更强的抗氧化活性和更强的胰脂肪酶活性抑制作用。此外，两者在黑暗和自然光下都具有良好的稳定性。这些结果为在保健食品或食品添加剂领域提供天然黑色素的极好来源开辟了可能性。