Black mulberry is native to Southwestern Asia, and it has been used as a traditional herbal medicine for animals and humans.
Black mulberry was one of the first to be adapted and cultivated for its fruits, not only for food but also for medicinal purposes, by Greeks and Romans.
The fruits and leaves of black mulberry plants contain many bioactive components, such as alkaloids, anthocyanins and flavonoids. M. nigra fruits had more anthocyanin and flavonol contents than other species.
Mulberry fruit contain the high amount of anthocyanins and it is generally used for nutritive and therapeutic purposes. It has been reported that cyanidin 3-rutinosid and cyanidin 3-glucosid of Morus alba L. exerted depending on applied concentration an inhibitory effect on the migration and invasion of A549 carcinome cells in the human lungs with massive metastasis without cytotoxicity.
M. nigra is rich in resveratrol and oxyresveratrol compounds. Resveratrol and oxyresveratrol are potent antioxidants and free radical scavengers. Resveratrol has neuroprotective and cardioprotective properties.
Flavonoids have long been recognized to possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiallergic, hepatoprotective, antithrombotic, antiviral and anticarcinogenic activities.
Morin (3, 5, 7, 2’ ,4’ -pentahydroxyflavone) is a flavonoid present in mulberry and several herbs. The former studies declared that morin affect the inflammation process in the case of active macrophages and is able to reduce the risk of septic shock.
Medicinal properties of black mulberry
