PJB-2025-293
Exploring the Nutritional Profile of Wild Mulberry Landraces Grown in Northern Pakistan: A Promising Dietary Option
Sartaj Ali
Abstract
The increasing demand for healthy foods has attracted researchers to the exploration of underutilized natural resources to ensure the nutritional security of consumers. In the current study, the fruits of five Morus land-races were examined in terms of compositional and nutritional profile along with anthocyanin content, total flavonoid, total carotenoids, antioxidant activity, and total phenolics denoted as WM1-WM5 from three locations (L1-L3). Results revealed mean pH ranged from 3.62 to 6.79, total soluble solids from 14.14 to 17.06oBrix, titratable acidity ranges from 0.17-0.28, moisture from 62.65-81.7%, protein 0.85-1.66%, fiber 6.83-10.88%, ash content 0.351-0.672%, ascorbic acid 12.41-21.09 mg/100g, and total sugars were 5.7 to 9.86 mg/100g in the landraces. Anthocyanin contents were 9.72-12.27, total flavonoids 71.64-81.9, and total carotenoids from 0.65-1.04, total phenolic content 16.35-31.29 mg/100g and antioxidant potential found in the range of 70.99-87% as DPPH scavenging activity. The obtained results showed that wild mulberry fruit has a rich nutritional and functional composition which provides good prospects to be used as a food and feed source. These results provide baseline data for the utilization of the fruit to develop value-added food products and establish a wild mulberry value chain in the region for the socioeconomic well-being of the mountain communities.
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