Investigation of antioxidant activities of fruit, leaf and stem extracts of white (Morus alba L.) and black (Morus nigra L.) mulberry species of Diyarbakır

This study aims to determine the antioxidant activities of fruit, leaf, and branche extracts of Morus alba L. and Morus nigra L. species collected from Diyarbakir. Different in vitro methods such as Total Phenol Content (TPC), Total Flavonoid Content (TFC), Copper (II) Ion Reducing Antioxidant Capacity (CUPRAC), 2,2´-diphenyl-1-pikrilhidrazil (DPPH), and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging methods were used to evaluate the antioxidant activities of the two Morus species. The highest total phenolic amount belongs to acetone extract (257.5±0.05 μg gallic acid equivalent mg-1) obtained from M. nigra branches, while the highest total flavonoid content was found in acetone extract (185.8±0.15 μg catechin equivalent mg-1) obtained from M. nigra leaves. In the CUPRAC test, the highest activity was observed in methanol extracts from M. alba branches (IC50 values is 35.63±0.22 μg mg-1). The IC50 values of the DPPH radical scavenging activity of the extracts are between 128.1±0.13 and 2494.7±0.30 μg mg-1, the best radical scavenging activity was demonstrated by acetone extract (128.1±0.13 μg mg-1) prepared from the M. alba branche. The highest ABTS radical scavenging activity belongs to the methanol extract (75.5±0.25 μg mg-1) obtained from the M. alba branches. The results prove that both Morus species possess antioxidant properties, not only in leaves and fruits but also in the branches. At the end of the study, it was determined that M. alba and M. nigra have medicinal usage value which can be used as natural antioxidants.