Fruits of Morus alba have been described as source of phytochemicals with antioxidant activity, which is of interest for human consume, and food industry. However, differences in antioxidant capacity among varieties of this species, as well as the potential of other parts of this plant has been little explored. In this work, extracts of roots from twelve (natural or hybrid) varieties of M. alba were evaluated. There were observed differences between varieties, as the range of total phenol content among hexane, ethanol and aqueous extracts (0.55 -1.59; 2.72 -6.61; 5.09 -9.85 gallic acid /100 g of extract, respectively). Antioxidant action of M. alba roots extracts was proved in different assays as radical scavenger and iron reduction capacity. Ethanol was found to be the best solvent to extract antioxidant compounds. Among all extracts assayed, the best association between high phenol and flavonoid content associated to free radicals scavenger and iron reducing power activities were shown by ethanol root extract from hybrid variety IZ 64. This work demonstrated that M. alba roots possess great potential as source of phytochemicals with antioxidant activity and pointed variety IZ 64 as the best cultivar to be used due to its functional properties or as source of natural antioxidants.

The knowledge of the different plant species that make up the feeding diet of animals is highly important to develop more efficient strategies. This research aimed to characterize the food potential available for the Cuban stingless bee livestock of the Matanzas and Mayabeque provinces. Palynological analysis was done using 60 g of pollen from sealed pots and 80 mL of honey from the ten randomly selected beehives (five in each province). The results showed that in the honey collected in Matanzas province, the most represented family was Amaranthaceae, followed by Myrtaceae and Fabaceae. Meanwhile, for Mayabeque, the most represented ones were the families Fabaceae and Myrtaceae. Regarding the stingless bee pollen of Matanzas provenance, the family Fabaceae prevailed, followed by Burseraceae and Myrtaceae. The pollen corresponding to Mayabeque coincided in showing Fabaceae as the most representative. In addition, pollen grains of small size (from 10 to 25 µm) were collected, with a marked representation of the pollen type of Mimosa pudica in the Mayabeque honey. It was concluded that the Cuban stingless bee livestock of the Matanzas and Mayabeque provinces had a specialist feeding behavior because a low number of plant taxa made up its diet.