Biological activities and chemical composition of Morus leaves extracts obtained by maceration and supercritical fluid extraction

Supercritical CO2 extraction of Morus species (Morus alba and Moro nigra) was performed and compared with maceration as conventional extraction technique. Composition and biological activity of extracts were evaluated. The thirteen fatty acids were quantified in obtained extracts by GC-FID analysis. Their percentages varying from 0.33% for palmitoleic acid (C16:1) to 37.57% for alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3 n3). The main fatty acids were palmitic acid (C16:0) (26.38 and 25.99%), alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3 n3) (34.97 and 37.57%) and linoleic acid (C18:2 n6c) (14.76 and 16.05%). Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined using spectrophotometric methods, while phenolic profile was determined using HPLC-DAD analysis. Antioxidant and cytotoxic activities were also determined. Main phenolic compound was caffeic acid. Rutin, derivatives of caffeic acid and quercetin were also presented in high amounts. Our findings demonstrated that Morus CO2 extracts possess significant characteristics and may be suggested as a new potential source of natural compounds. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.