Seven compounds were isolated from the MeOH extract of the seeds of Plantago asiatica L. and their structures were identified as ${eta}-sitosterol$ (1), (24R)-6${eta}$-hydroxy-24-ethyl-cholest-4-en-3-one (2), acteoside (3), geniposidic acid (4), 1-octen-3-ol 3-O-${eta}$-D-xylopyranosyl$(1{ ightarrow}6)-{eta}-D-glucopyranoside$ (5), plantainoside D (6) and plantamajoside (7) on the spectroscopic analysis. Among them, $(24R)-6{eta}$-hydroxy-24-ethyl-cholest-4-en-3-one (2) and 1-octen-3-ol 3-O-${eta}$-D-xylopyranosyl ($1{ ightarrow}6)-{eta}-D-glucopyranoside$ (5) were first isolated from this plant. Among them, geniposidic acid (4) showed the most potent inhibitory effect on melanogenesis, with inhibition rate of 41%.