Mulberry Family

The genus Broussonetia L Her. ex Vent, of the Moraceae (mulberry family) is represented by lactiferous trees or shrubs. Broussonetia comprises about 30 species and is distributed throughout various regions of the world including Africa, East Asia, and North America [1,2]. Thus far, only three species of the genus Broussonetia have been studied for their secondary metabolites, namely, B. kazinoki, B. papyrifera, and B. zeylanica. 

The mulberry family occurs primarily in tropical and semi-tropical regions, and includes a wide variety of herbs, shrubs, and trees, characterized by a milky sap and reduced, unisexual flowers. This family includes 40 gen-... 

Species of the mulberry family may be either monoecious or dioecious, depending on whether male and female flowers occur on the same plant (monoecious) or on separate plants (dioecious). Flowers of the Moraceae are in tightly packed groups, known as heads, spikes, catkins, or umbels. Fig flowers are produced inside a synconium, a hollow fleshy structure. The small flowers lack petals. Male flowers consist of four sepals, which are usually leaf-like appendages, and four stamens. Female flowers consist of four sepals and a pistil with a two-chambered ovary. 

Antiaris toxicaria Upas tree Antiarin A Javanese tree of the mulberry family, used as an arrow poison... 

Moracece or Mulberry Family.—Mostly shrubs or trees, rarely herbs, perennials, many of them containing a milky juice, with small axillary, clustered or solitary unisexual flowers, variously colored leaves ovate with serrate margin and having caducous stipules fruit an akene enclosed by the perianth. 

Hops (Humulus lupulus L.) belong to the mulberry family (Moraceae). The leaf and flower cone with luplin (yellow secreted particles) are used to flavor beer, and to alleviate thirst as a nutraceutical. Air-dried hops contain a-acids in 2-12% yields [102]. The a-acids are found in a lead-acetate-precipitate derived from the methanol extract of hop. The chemical structures are shown in Fig. 14a [103,104]. Humulone is the most easily obtainable a-acid by repeated crystallization. Isomerization of the a-acids is the most important reaction in beer brewing, and is easily induced by boiling. Beer contains 20-25 mg/L of iso-a-acids, which mainly contribute to its bitterness. 

A family of tropical and warm areas with some in temperate regions, the Moraceae furnish several edible fruits, including mulberries and figs. The well-known and economically important hops as well as Cannabis were previously included in this family. 

Morus alba (mulberry) (Moraceae) [root bark] Morus alba (mulberry) (Moraceae) [root bark] Animals - endogenous Bombesin family peptide... 

The family Moraceae was named after the mulberry. Modus. The red mulberry. Modus rubra, is native to North America, where it occurs in moist woodlands. It produces a tasty, juicy fruit which is favored by birds, and although it is also good for people to eat, it is not economically important. The white mulberry. Modus alba, is native to Asia. In China, leaves of the white mulberry are fed to cultivated silkworms, a type of moth larva. The white mulberry became naturalized in North America during unsuccessful attempts to establish a silk industry in colonial America. Unlike the native red mulberry, the white mulberry is somewhat weedy, and is often found around homes, in disturbed sites, along fencerows, and in moist, second-growth bottomlands. Fruits of the white mulberry may be white, pink, red, or deep purple. The dark purple fruits inspired the name Modus nigra, although taxonomists have since determined this plant to only be a variety of Modus alba. 

The compounds structurally similar to the mulberry Diels-Alder type adduct have also been isolated from the other species of the plants of the family Moraceae. Brosimones A (26) [41], B (27) [14] and D (28) [14] have been isolated from Brosimopsis oblongifolia, a Brazilian moraceous plant (Figure 7). They are expected to be formed through the same way as the mulberry Diels-Alder type adducts. Of these compounds, compound (26) is a unique adduct which may be formed through an intramolecular [4+2] cycloaddition reaction of the isoprenyl portion and the a, -double bond of the chalcone slceleton of compound (28) (Figure 8). Artonins C (29) [42], D (30) [42] and I (31) [43] isolated from Artocarpus heterophyllus, an Indonesian moraceous plant, can also be regarded... 

As presently classified, cannabis is included along with the hops plant (Humulus) in a distinct family called Cannabaceae, although some botanists still prefer to assign it to the Moraceae family which also includes the mulberry plant to which cannabis was closely tied in ancient China. 

Along with cotton and wool, silk had long been one of the most useful fibers known to man. The material comes from the secretion of the mulberry leaf-feeding silkworm, Bombyx mori, a family of Lepidoptera that includes large moths and butterflies. The mature caterpillar produces a clear, viscous fluid called fibroin, which, in combination with another fluid called sericin, forms the solid filaments of silk that make up the cocoon. 

The true hemp belongs to the family Mulberry, genus Cannabis. The fiber-producing species is called Cannabis saliva. 

Synthesis of a number of antifungal stilbenoids can be induced by elicitation with fungal preparations or other factors such as UV light. A family of phytoalexins from mulberries (Moms spp., Moraceae) possess stilbene structures (Fig. 10.9) (Coxon, 1982). The moracins were isolated from shoots of Moms alba infected with Fusarium solani f. sp. mori and were not present in detectable quantities in uninfected tissue. Two additional compounds, oxyresveratrol (10) and 4 -prenyloxyresveratrol (Fig. 10.4), were isolated from fungus-infected xylem extracts of mulberry. Although oxyresveratrol (10) (Fig. 10.4) occurs in heartwood of mulberry, this compound is formed in the sapwood as a phytoalexin. Two similar compounds, broussonin A and B (14, 15), are found in the shoots of paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera, Moraceae) infected with the same fungus (Coxon, 1982 Kuc, 1992). 

Calystegines have been identified in the plant families Convolvulaceae, Solanaceae, Moraceae and Brassicaceae and have been found in numerous edible fruits and vegetables, especially members of the Solanaceae family, such as potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants and sweet and chili peppers, but also in mulberries and some Brassica vegetables and spices, such as kohlrabi, Brussel sprouts and black mustard leaves. 

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