Morus nigra L., belonging to the Moraceae family, is a decidious tree widely cultivated in Europe and West Asia. It has a long history of medicinal use in Chinese medicine, as a remedy for many kinds of diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the profile of the phenolic constituents of M. nigra fruits and to compare their content with the fruits of another species of Morus, Morus alba, which is also very well known in folklore medicine. The fruits of black and white mulberries have been studied, and five compounds from the methanol extract have been identified by means of HPLC/PDA/ESI-MS. Four compounds (quercetin 3- O-glucoside, quercetin 3- O-rutinoside, kaempferol 3- O-rutinoside, and 5- O-caffeoylquinic acid) have been isolated by use of Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and HPLC and characterized by means of NMR and ESI-MS. Furthermore, HPLC/PDA/ESI-MS analysis of the red pigment of M. nigra fruits revealed the presence of four anthocyanins recognized as cyanidin 3- O-glucoside, cyanidin 3- O-rutinoside, pelargonidin 3- O-glucoside, and pelargonidin 3- O-rutinoside. All of the compounds were quantified.

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Arbutus unedo L., the strawberry tree (Ericaceae family), is an evergreen shrub or small tree, typical of the Mediterranean fringe and climate. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the profile of the phenolic constituents of A. unedo fruits. Seven compounds were purified by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography of the MeOH extract followed by HPLC and were characterized as arbutin, beta-D-glucogalline, gallic acid 4-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 3-O-galloylquinic acid, 5-O-galloylquinic acid, 3-O-galloylshikimic acid, and 5-O-galloylshikimic acid, by means of NMR and ESI-MS analyses. Moreover, LC-PDA-MS analysis of the red pigment of A. unedo fruits revealed the presence of three anthocyanins recognized as cyanidin 3-O-beta-D-galactopyranoside, delphinidin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, and cyanidin 3-O-beta-D-arabinopyranoside. These pigments were also quantified.