Mulberry leaves are native to Chinathe republic of koreaAnd Japan, so far 50% of the world's countries have planted.China is the largestMulberryIn planting countries, mulberry leaves are the main product of mulberry trees, accounting for 64% of the total output. Therefore, mulberry leaves have great advantages in germplasm resources in China.Since ancient times, mulberry planting in China has been mainly used in traditional sericulture. The amount of mulberry leaves used in sericulture is only a small part, and a large amount of surplus mulberry leaves cause waste of resources. Therefore, it is an urgent problem to develop the application value of mulberry leaves and explore their economic value.The rich nutritional value of mulberry leaves has attracted more and more industrial attention, and the development and utilization of mulberry leaves have diversified.[1]
Trees or shrubs, 3-10 meters high or higher, DBH up to 50 cm, thick bark, gray, with irregular light longitudinal cracks;Winter buds are reddish brown, ovate, with bud scales arranged like tiles, grayish brown, with fine hairs;Branchlets have fine hairs.The leaves are ovate or broadly ovate, 5-15cm long and 5-12cm wide, with acute, acuminate or obtuse apex, rounded to light heart-shaped base, rough and obtuse edge serrations, and sometimes the leaves are divided, with bright green surface and no hair, sparsely hairy along the veins on the back, and tufted hairs in the vein axils;Petiole 1.5-5.5 cm long, pilose;Stipules lanceolate, caducous, densely covered with fine bristles.Flowers are unisexual, axillary or in the axil of bud scales, and come out at the same time with leaves;Male inflorescence pendulous, 2-3.5 cm long, densely white pilose, male flower.Perianth segments are wide elliptic and light green.Filaments inflexed in bud, anthers 2-celled, spherical to reniform, longitudinally split;The female inflorescence is 1-2 cm long, hairy, and the total pedicel is 5-10 mm long, pilose. The female flower is sessile, the perianth is obovate, the top is blunt, the outside and edge are hairy, the ovary is tightly held on both sides, without style, the stigma is 2-lobed, and the inside has papillary processes.The cymose is ovoid oval, 1-2.5 cm long, red or dark purple when mature.Flowering from April to May, fruiting from May to August.[2]
This species is native to the central and northern parts of China, and is now cultivated from northeast to southwest provinces, northwest to Xinjiang.It is also cultivated in North Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Central Asian countries, Russia, Europe, India and Vietnam.[2]
Nutritional composition
Announce
edit
Mulberry leaves
Mulberry leaves have balanced nutritional components and high digestibility. Based on dry matter, they contain 16.3% crude ash, 20.1% crude protein, 12% crude fiber (26.8% neutral detergent fiber, 14.8% acid detergent fiber, 4.1% acid detergent lignin, 12.1% cellulose and 10.7% hemicellulose), 3.7% fat, 47.9% sugar [9-11].Mulberry leaves are rich in a variety of amino acids, as many as 17 kinds, including essential amino acids: Arg (6.44%), His (2.29%), Ile (4.97%), Leu (9.66%), Lys (6.21%), Met (1.48%), Phe (6.09%), Thr (5.22%), Val (6.37%), andNonessential amino acid：Glu(11.54%)、Asp(10.18%)、Ala(7.82%)、Gly（5.97%）、Pro（5.43%）、Ser（5.02%）、Tyr（3.68%）、Cys(0.58%)，GABA（γ - aminobutyric acid, 1.12%) [12], where Lys, Met, Cys and Glu are involved inprotein metabolism It plays an important role in the process.Mulberry leaves are rich in vitamins（vitamin A、B1、B2、B5、B11、C、E、Carotene, retinoin, etc.) and minerals (Ca, Mg, K, P, Fe, Zn, etc.) play an important role in maintaining the normal growth, development, metabolism, immunity and other functions of animals.[3]
biological function
Announce
edit
1. Improve the production performance of animal body
Mulberry leaves
Because mulberry leaves are rich in nutrients and good palatability, the production performance of animals has been greatly improved after feeding them with mulberry leaves.Adding 5%, 10%, 15% fresh mulberry leaf meal to the diets of finishing pigs can significantly reduce the feed weight ratio (F/G) and increase the average daily gain (ADG) of finishing pigs (P<0.05), but there are also contrary research conclusions.
2. Improve the antioxidation of animal body
Mulberry leaves contain polyphenols, ketones and other bioactive substances, so they can eliminate superoxide free radicals, lipid peroxides, etc. in animals, thereby improving the antioxidant capacity of animals.
3. Improve the intestinal microecological balance of animals
Mulberry leaves also play a great role in maintaining the intestinal microecological balance of animals, which can be regulated byIntestinal floraAnd maintain the microecological balance of animal intestinal tract.Many studies have shown that mulberry leaves can reduce the number of harmful bacteria in animals' intestines, such asEscherichia coliandStaphylococcus aureusIt has inhibitory effect and maintains the health of animal intestines.
4 Improve the meat quality of animals
In addition to the above biological functions, mulberry leaves can also improve the meat quality of animals. The test results showed that after feeding health pigs with fermented mulberry leaves as feed, according to the slaughter determination, compared with ordinary pigs, the four flavor amino acids in pork fed with mulberry leaves were 35.4% higher, the total amino acids were 24.7% higher, the protein was 44% higher, the fat was 47.6% lower, and the cholesterol was 45.5% lower, which significantly improved the pork quality.In conclusion, feeding mulberry leaves can effectively improve the meat quality of animals.[4]
Plant application
Announce
edit
1 Mulberry leaf food
Mulberry leaves contain a variety of amino acids, polyphenols, flavonoids, vitamins and rich natural pigments needed by the human body.In some areas, mulberry buds are picked and eaten directly as vegetables. For example, in Guangdong, China, people often eat mulberry leafy vegetables, and at the same time, mulberry buds are processed into high-grade dehydrated vegetables;There is also the phenomenon of eating mulberry leaf vegetables in some areas of Jiangxi.In some places, mulberry leaves are processed into mulberry leaf pulp or mulberry leaf powder and added into food in a certain proportion to make mulberry leaf noodles, mulberry leaf tofu, mulberry leaf biscuits, mulberry leaf bean milk powder, mulberry leaf jam, etc., which can not only increase the nutritional and health components of food, but also adjust the color, aroma and flavor of food.Jiangxi Research Institute of Sericulture and Tea has developed mulberry leaf peach cake, mulberry leaf noodles and other products, which are loved by consumers.[1]
2 Mulberry leaf tea
Mulberry leaves are used as tea drinks, which was first seen in the Compendium of Materia Medica in the Chinese traditional pharmacopoeia. Mulberry leaves "decoct with juice instead of tea, which can quench thirst", "decoct with moxibustion, which can quench thirst".Mulberry leaf tea is known as "immortal tea" in Chinese history, while it is called "longevity tea" in Japan. People in southern China are also used to picking mulberry leaves and cooking herbal tea directly.[1]
Tea is a popular drink, which contains amino acids, polyphenols and caffeine. Tea drinking can refresh the mind, but it is especially not suitable for people with hypertension and people with poor sleep.In addition to amino acids and polyphenols, mulberry leaf tea does not contain caffeine, but contains special 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) and γ - aminobutyric acid (GABA).Studies have proved that DNJ has obvious effect on reducing blood sugar, delaying the onset and deterioration of diabetes, and its content in mulberry leaves is about 100~200 mg/kg;GABA can increase the activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme I (ACEI) and reduce blood pressure. The content of GABA in fresh mulberry leaves is 0.0325% ～ 0.1224%.With the improvement of people's living standards and the strengthening of health care awareness, mulberry leaf tea is expected to become a popular health drink in today's fast-paced society.[1]
The quality of mulberry leaf tea is affected by mulberry leaf variety, fresh leaf tenderness, production season and processing technology.Generally speaking, only mulberry leaves (mulberry buds) with suitable varieties and high tenderness can make good mulberry leaf tea, while mature large mulberry leaves used for sericulture are not suitable for making mulberry leaf tea.Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesAfter years of cultivation, the Sericulture Research Institute has successfully bred the special mulberry leaf tea variety Mulberry Tea No. 1. The mulberry tree is short and similar to ordinary tea trees. Mulberry leaf tea made from Mulberry Tea No. 1 is the best mulberry tea.[1]
3 Mulberry leaf feed
As early as the early 20th century, foreign countries began to study the use of mulberry leaves for feed,FAO(FAO) also attached great importance to the use of mulberry resources to develop animal husbandry.Japanese Gunma Animal Trial Research Report No. 6 (1999), No. 7 (2000), and No. 9 (2002) reported that the addition of mulberry leaf meal to the feed for laying hens, broilers, and pigs had a significant effect on improving egg quality and meat quality.[1]
The research on mulberry leaf feed in China mainly focuses on the evaluation of the nutritional value of mulberry leaf feed and the feeding effect of animals such as livestock, poultry and aquatic products.Huang Jing et al. [6] compared the basic nutrients in the dry matter of mulberry leaves with that of conventional feed crops such as cassava, corn, wheat, and alfalfa meal, and found that the contents of crude protein and crude fat in mulberry leaves were 29.8% and 5.6% respectively, second only to soybeans, 1.3 to 10.3 times higher than other feed crops;Compared with other feed crops, the content of coarse ash in mulberry leaves is high, with a mass fraction of 11.8%;The crude fiber content of mulberry leaves is 11.1%, which is 43% of that of alfalfa powder.It can be seen that the basic nutrient content of mulberry leaves is close to that of soybeans and better than that of alfalfa meal. Especially, the rich protein content and low fiber content make mulberry leaves can be used as protein raw materials for animal feed.[1]
Medicinal value
Announce
edit
Mulberry leaves
[Nature, taste and meridian tropism] Sweet, bitter and cold.It belongs to the lung and liver meridians.[5]
[Functions and indications] Evacuate wind heat, clear lung and moisten dryness,Clearing liver and improving eyesight。be used forWind heat cold, lung hot and dry cough, dizziness and headache, red and dim eyes.[5]
