LAUSR

The goal of the study was to determine the differences in phytochemical components of mulberry (Morus laevigata) fruits at different stages of ripeness. In this study, the highest total phenolic (1310.3 µg gallic acid equivalents/g fresh weight) and anthocyanin (925.6 µg cy-3-glu/g fresh weight) contents and antioxidant capacity (12.8 µmol trolox equivalents/g fresh weight) were observed in black ripening stage. The major sugars in mulberry fruits were fructose (17.55 g/kg). It was determined that the main organic acid in mulberry was citric acid ranging from 8.97 g/kg (pink stage) to 5.80 g/kg (black ripening stage), followed by malic acid ranging from 0.31 (pink ripening stage) to 5.67 (black ripening stage) g/kg. Looking at the contents of phenolic compounds, chlorogenic acid (average 27.48 mg/100 g) was found to be the predominant phenolic compound. Current study shows that M. laevigata fruits are a good source of healthy phytochemicals.