Phytochemical Content of Some Black (Morus nigra L.) and Purple (Morus rubra L.) Mulberry Genotypes

Bright black (Mortis nigra) and purple mulberry (Morus rubra) are particularly desirable fruits in Turkey. More recently, the interest in these bright black and purple mulberry fruits has also increased because of the popularization of healthy properties of these fruits. The study was carried out in 2008 aiming to determine the antioxidant activity (ferric reducing ability of plasma, FRAP), total phenolic, total anthocyanin, mineral, soluble solid, vitamin C, and total acid content of four black and four purple mulberry genotypes grown in Turkey. The results show that black mulberry genotypes have a higher bioactive content than purple mulberry genotypes. The average total phenolic content and total anthocyanins of black mulberry genotypes were 2149 mu g of gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per g and 719 mu g of cyanidin 3-glucoside equivalent (Cy 3-glu) per g of fresh mass. In purple mulberry, these values were for GAE 1690 mu g/g and for Cy 3-glu 109 mu g/g on fresh mass basis. The average antioxidant activity of black mulberry genotypes was also found to be higher than that of the purple ones according to FRAP assay (Trolox equivalent (TE) per fresh mass of black and purple mulberries was 13.35 and 6.87 mu mol/g, respectively).