Flower Characteristics and Resource Evaluation of Fruit Mulberry

[Objectives]In order to study the flower characteristics of mulberry and evaluate the resources of fruit mulberry.[Methods]Firstly,the resources of fruit mulberry were collected,and four varieties of fruit mulberry(‘Dashi’mulberry,‘Changguo’milk mulberry,‘agate’mulberry and‘Xiangjin’milk mulberry)were collected.Then,the flower characteristics,fruit quality,and adaptability of fruit mulberry were studied.[Results]Mulberry is a dioecious plant,and the inflorescences are lurocatkin.The male flowers will fall off automatically,while the female flowers will develop into fruit.The four varieties of fruit mulberry have good adaptability in Shanghai,and their fruits have their own characteristics.At the same time,in order to use the resources of fruit mulberry,mulberry fruit picking activities were carried out for many times.[Conclusions]This study provides a reference for the cultivation,collection,utilization and evaluation of mulberry.

Content Variation of Active Components in Mulberry Fruit During Ripening Process

Ten mulberry species were taken as materials to detect contents of DNJ,polysaccharide and flavonoid.The results indicated that the three active components differed significantly upon species.Hongguo 2 and Shushen 1,which are of high contents of active components,were selected as materials to measure contents change of active components in fresh fruits during ripening process after full-bloom stage.The research suggested that DNJ mass fractions of Hongguo 2 and Shushen 1 on the 3rd d in full-bloom stage were 0.074 1% and 0.072 5%;DNJ declined gradually with growth of the fruit and DNJ contents in the two cultivars decreased by 49.80% and 58.90% on the 31st d in full-bloom stage,compared with the 3rd d.As mulberry grew,polysaccharide contents in Hongguo 2 and Shushen 1 were increasing and achieved peaks on the 27th d in full-bloom stage at 9.570% and 10.276%,respectively.For total flavonoids,the contents in Hongguo 2 and Shushen 1 were both of two peaks on 11th d and 27th d.The mass fractions were 0.313%,0.444%,and 0.264%,0.326%,accordingly.In addition,DNJ contents in ripe seeds of Hongguo 2 and Shushen 1 were significantly higher than those in fruit,but total flavonoid contents were lower.Polysaccharide was not detected.It can be concluded that mulberry fruits growing for 27 d can be either as excellent food or for medicine.

Submerged fermentation improves bioactivity of mulberry fruits and leaves

Objective:Mulberry(Morus spp.)fruits and leaves have been proven to possess nutraceutical properties.Due to its fast and easy growing characteristics,mulberry fruits(MF)and leaves(ML)potentially emerge as a great source of functional foods.This study aims to enhance bioactivities(antioxidant,antiinflammation,and hypoglycemic activity)of MF and ML via submerged fermentation using bacteria(Lactobacillus plantarum TAR 4),yeast(Baker’s yeast and red yeast)and fungi(Tempeh and Tapai starter).Methods:In this study,25%(mass to volume ratio)of MF and ML were fermented(48 h)with 1%(mass to volume ratio)of different microbial cultures,respectively.Effects of different fermentations on MF and ML were determined based on the changes of total phenolics(TPC),flavonoids(TFC),anthocyanins,total sugar,DPPH activity,ferric reducing antioxidant power(FRAP),albumin denaturation inhibition activity(ADI),anti-lipoxygenase activity and a-amylase inhibition activity(AI).Results:Generally,ML had higher AI than MF.However,MF exhibited higher DPPH,FRAP and antilipoxygenase activity than ML.After all forms of fermentation,DPPH and AI activity of MF and ML were increased significantly(P<0.05).However,the effects of fermentation on TPC,FRAP,ADI and antilipoxygenase activity of MF were in contrast with ML.TPC,FRAP and anti-lipoxygenase activity of ML were enhanced,but reduced in MF after fermentation.Although the effects exerted by different microorganisms in MF and ML fermentation were different,the bioactivities of MF and ML were generally improved after fermentation.Fermentation by Tempeh starter enhanced TPC(by 2-fold),FRAP(by 2.3-fold),AI(at 10%increment)and anti-lipoxygenase activity(by 5-fold)of ML,whereas Tapai fermentation effectively enhanced the DPPH(at 17%increment)and ADI(by 2-fold)activity of MF.Conclusion:Findings of this study provide an insight into the future process design of MF and ML processing into novel functional foods.

Characterization and expression profiles of MaACS and MaACO genes from mulberry(Morus alba L.)

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthase （ACS） and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid oxidase （ACO） are encoded by multigene families and are involved in fruit ripening by catalyzing the production of ethylene throughout the development of fruit. However, there are no reports on ACS or ACO genes in mulberry, partly because of the limited molecular research background. In this study, we have obtained five ACS gene sequences and two ACO gene sequences from Morus Genome Database. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of MaACO1 and MaACO2 showed that their amino acids are conserved compared with ACO proteins from other species. MaACS1 and MaACS2 are type I, MaACS3 and MaACS4 are type II, and MaACS5 is type III, with different C-terminal se-quences. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction （qRT-PCR） expression analysis showed that the transcripts of MaACS genes were strongly expressed in fruit, and more weakly in other tissues. The expression of MaACO1 and MaACO2 showed different patterns in various mulberry tissues. MaACS and MaACO genes demon-strated two patterns throughout the development of mulberry fruit, and both of them were strongly up-regulated by abscisic acid （ABA） and ethephon.

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of certain Morus species

In the present work,the fruits of four Morus species,namely Morus alba (white mulberry),Morus nigra (black mulberry),Morus laevigata (large white fruit),and Morus laevigata (large black fruit),were analyzed for proximate composition,essential minerals,and antioxidant potentials.For this purpose,the ripe fruits were collected from the northern regions of Pakistan.The major nutritional components moisture,ash,lipids,proteins,fibres,carbohydrates,and total sugar) were found to be in the suitable range along with good computed energy.Total dry weight,pH,and titratable acidity (percent citric acid) were (17.60±1.94)–(21.97±2.34) mg/100 g,(3.20±0.07)–(4.78±0.15),and (0.84±0.40)%–(2.00±0.08)%,respectively.Low riboflavin (vitamin B2) and niacin (vitamin B3) contents were recorded in all the fruits,while ascorbic acid (vitamin C) was in the range from (15.20±1.25) to (17.03±1.71) mg/100 g fresh weight (FW).The mulberry fruits were rich with regard to the total phenol and alkaloid contents,having values of (880±7.20)–(1650±12.25) mg/100 g FW and (390±3.22)–(660±5.25) mg/100 g FW,respectively.Sufficient quantities of essential macro-(K,Ca,Mg,and Na) and micro-(Fe,Zn,and Ni) elements were found in all the fruits.K was the predominant element with concentration ranging from (1270±9.36) to (1731±11.50) mg/100 g,while Ca,Na,and Mg contents were (440±3.21)–(576±7.37),(260±3.86)–(280±3.50),and (240±3.51)–(360±4.20) mg/100 g,respectivly.The decreasing order of micro-minerals was Fe>Zn>Ni.The radical scavenging activity of methanolic extract of fruits was concentration-dependent and showed a correlation with total phenolic constituents of the respective fruits.Based on the results obtained,mulberry fruits were found to serve as a potential source of food diet and natural antioxidants.