PHYTOCHEMICALS AND ANTI-OXIDANT ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT MULBERRY VARIETIES

CHAUHAN S.¹, VENKATESHKUMAR R.², VERMA S.C.^3
1Department of Applied Animal Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow- 226 025, UP, India.
²Department of Applied Animal Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow- 226 025, UP, India.
³CCRAS, Department of Ayush, Janakpuri- 110 058, New Delhi, India.

Received : 15-11-2012     Accepted : 15-07-2013     Published : 12-08-2013
Volume : 1     Issue : 1       Pages : 7 - 12
World Res J Biotechnol 1.1 (2013):7-12

Phytochemicals screening in various plants had gained interest in formulation of herbal drugs. Many oxidative stress related diseases are as a result of accumulation of free radicals in the body. A lot of researches are going on worldwide directed towards finding natural antioxidants of plants origins. The aims of this study were to screen phytochemical constituents and evaluate in vitro antioxidant activity of leaves of different varieties of mulberry plant (Family Moraceae). The methanolic extract of leaves of different mulberry varieties namely S-13, S-54, S-146, BR-2, S-36, S-1 and AR-12 which belongs to Morus alba and Morus indica were subjected for the phytochemical screening. The preliminary screening reports the presence of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids etc. in methanolic extracts. FRAP assay Ascorbic acid was used as standard for the both. On the basis of results obtained from the HPLC analysis, methanolic extracts of mulberry leaves samples of S-36, S-1, AR-12 varieties contain more amount of phenolics and flavonoids exhibiting high anti-oxidant activity. It also chelates iron and has reducing power. The in vitro FRAP assay clearly indicated that S-1 mulberry leaf extract showed maximum significant FRAP concentration at 800 and 1000µL/mL (0.408 ± 0.001 mmol FeSO4/100 g dried sample and 0.410 ± 0.001 mmol FeSO4/100 g dried sample respectively) a significant source of natural antioxidant, which might be helpful in preventing the progress of various oxidative stresses. However, the components responsible for the anti-oxidative activity are morin, querectin, resveratrol, scopoletin, 7-hydroxycoumarin. Furthermore, these mulberry varieties may be utilized in epidemiological studies.