Study of secondary metabolites in Morus nigra and Morus alba.

Morus nigra and Morus alba are fruits that abound in our country but are not widely consumed by the population due to lack of knowledge of their therapeutic and nutritional properties. Several studies have shown that they are sources of bioactive compounds such as flavonoids phenolic acids vitamins B and C and minerals. Their intake is important for health protection reducing oxidative stress which causes various pathological conditions such as atherosclerosis cardiomyopathies neurological diseases and cancer.Our research focused on the study of secondary metabolites with antioxidant activity in these fruits for which we prepared extracts with different solvents and then performed a phytochemical screening and quantification of the relevant secondary metabolites. We evaluated the antioxidant capacity with various methodologies and toxicity using Artemia salina nauplii. These studies allowed us to establish their potential for use in industry either for the development of food pharmaceutical and/or dermo-cosmetic products with an important added value allowing them to be used as natural antioxidants.