Abstract: Effects of environmental factors on stability of α-arbutin by detecting if there was hydroquinone produced in α-arbutin solution using high performance liquid chromatography was analyzed.Meanwhile,the difference of stability between α-arbutin and β-arbutin under separate basic environmental conditions was compared.Results showed that,up to temperature 100 ℃,α-arbutin remains stable;under pH of 1 and 13,α-arbutin becomes unstable,and under pH of nearby neutral condition,α-arbutin performs stable;light and ultraviolet irradiation have an impact on the stability of α-arbutin.Comparison between stability of two kinds of arbutin vs.pH and light factors,they perform the same stability test results;while under different temperature condition,β-arbutin performs unstable under 60 ℃.

Key words: whitening agent, α-arbutin, β-arbutin, stability, high performance liquid chromatography