• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.1090-1099
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• 2015

Among the four different parts of mulberry (Morus alba L.) tree, ethanol extract of Morus root bark showed the highest ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity ($IC_{50}=12.01{\mu}g/mL$). Bioassay-guided fractionation of the ethanolic extract of root bark by Diaion HP-20, silica gel, ODS-A, and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatographies led to the isolation of four compounds, including Compound (Comp.) 1 ($IC_{50}=5.22{\mu}g/mL$), Comp. 2 ($IC_{50}=1.78{\mu}g/mL$), Comp. 3 ($IC_{50}=2.94{\mu}g/mL$), and Comp. 4 ($IC_{50}=1.54{\mu}g/mL$) with strong ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Their chemical structures were elucidated as morusin (Comp. 1), kuwanon H (Comp. 2), chalcomoracin A (Comp. 3), and chalcomoracin B (Comp. 4) by UV and NMR spectral analyses. These results suggest that prenylflavonoid and mulberrofuran of Morus root bark may be useful as potential therapeutic agents for diabetes.