The Mulberry (Morus alba L.) Fruit—A Review of Characteristic Components and Health Benefits

Abstract

Mulberry (Morus alba L.) fruit has a high yield in one fruiting season in many countries, especially in Asia, and a long history of use as an edible fruit and traditional medicine. A great diversity of nutritive compounds such as fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds, including anthocyanins, rutin, quercetin, chlorogenic acid, and polysaccharides have been found in mulberry fruit depending on the cultivars and maturity stages. Furthermore, the extracts and active components of mulberry fruit have demonstrated numerous biological activities, including antioxidant, neuroprotective, antiatherosclerosis, immunomodulative, antitumor, antihyperglycemic, and hypolipidemic activities in in vitro and in vivo studies, and they have received increasing interest from researchers and pharmaceutical companies. Although some mechanistic studies further substantiate these potential health benefits of mulberry fruit, a need exists to make a better understanding of the roles of these compounds in traditional medicine and the diet. This review provides recent findings regarding the chemical constituents and biological activities of mulberry fruit, which may be useful for stimulating deep research of mulberry fruit and for predicting their uses as important and safe contributors to benefit human health.

Dietary mulberry leaf powder affects growth performance, carcass traits and meat quality in finishing pigs

“…Mulberry ( Morus spp., family Moraceae), a fast‐growing deciduous tree, thrives under variable climate conditions ranging from temperate to tropical. China is the country with the largest area of mulberry, with greater than 626,000 hectares (ha) (Yuan & Zhao, ). The biomass yield of fresh mulberry leaves is approximately 25–30 tons/ha/year.…”

Chemical composition and antioxidant capacities analysis of different parts of Brasenia schreberi

“…These results showed that G‐BS contained about 57% of polysaccharides and 1% of protein by dry mass. The polysaccharides content of G‐BS was much higher than that of ML‐BS (10%), TL‐BS (5%), TS‐BS (9%), and other plant such as: mushroom (5–10%) (Kalac, ) and different fruits (<21%) (Gao, Wu, & Wang, ; Yuan & Zhao, ).…”

“…(5-10%) (Kalac, 2009) and different fruits (<21%) (Gao, Wu, & Wang, 2013;Yuan & Zhao, 2017). and TS-BSP).…”

Reduced nitrogen supply enhances the cellular antioxidant potential of phenolic extracts through alteration of the phenolic composition in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

“…Antioxidants lessen the intracellular oxidative damage, through either direct or indirect cellular antioxidant activity. While phenolic compounds are capable of directly scavenging ROS via donation of hydrogen or electrons, cells are also protected by a network of endogenous antioxidant enzymes that protects against oxidative stress . Pretreatment with the phenolic extracts of lettuce significantly increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes (CAT and SOD) and their corresponding transcript levels in H 2 O 2 ‐treated Caco‐2 cells.…”

“…While phenolic compounds are capable of directly scavenging ROS via donation of hydrogen or electrons, cells are also protected by a network of endogenous antioxidant enzymes that protects against oxidative stress. 2,3,36 Pretreatment with the phenolic extracts of lettuce significantly increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes (CAT and SOD) and their corresponding transcript levels in H 2 O 2 -treated Caco-2 cells. LP treatment was more effective than CP treatment with regard to protecting the antioxidant enzyme system under conditions of oxidative stress (Fig.…”