Characteristics of fruit growth, component analysis and antioxidant activity of mulberry (Morns spp.)

The chemical constituents including beta-sitosterol, scopoletin, rutin, quercetin, and kaempferol in Morus atropurpurea fruits were purified using column chromatography in this study. Moreover, in which, scopoletin, rutin, quercetin, and kaempferol were evaluated as indicator components to analyze multiple components simultaneously by HPLC. The HPLC method ensured the accuracy and efficiency, and could be used for analyzing the quantity of the constituents of the leaves, branches, and fruits which were in colors of green, red, and black of three Morus species, M. atropurpurea, Morus laevigata, and Morus alba. The results indicated that the fruits had highest content of scopoletin, leaves had highest content of rutin, black fruit had highest content of quercetin, and the branches had highest content of kaempferol. Analysis of various species revealed that the most content of selected compounds, total phenolic and flavonoids were found in the branches and fruit of M. atropurpurea; meanwhile, it also had the highest DPPH scavenging ability. However, the leaves of M. laevigata had the highest antioxidant activity. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.