Survey and Comparative Analysis of Secondary Metabolites in Mulberry Leaves from Different Cultivars and Geographical Origins in Chongqing
Panpan Wang1, Yanjing Liu1, Haiyan Kong1, Ye Li2,*, Shuang Chen3,*, Nong Zhou1,*
1 School of Biological and Food Engineering, Chongqing Sanxia University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, China
2 Department of Pharmacy, Chongqing Three Gorges Medical College, Chongqing, China
3 Food Inspection Laboratory, Chongqing Institute for Food and Drug Control, Chongqing, China
* Corresponding Author: Ye Li. Email: 
; Shuang Chen. Email: 
; Nong Zhou. Email: 
Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2026.084444
Received 22 April 2026; Accepted 25 June 2026; Published online 14 July 2026
Abstract
Mulberry leaf is a widely used medicinal and edible homologous plant, and its quality is closely related to the contents of secondary metabolites. In this study, 17 batches of mulberry leaves from 3 cultivars and 7 geographical origins in Chongqing were used as materials. An HPLC method was established for the simultaneous determination of mulberroside A, chlorogenic acid, rutin, isoquercitrin, and astragalin, and the effects of cultivar and origin on the accumulation of these components were systematically compared. The established method exhibited satisfactory linearity (R
2 ≥ 0.9998), together with good precision, stability, repeatability, and accuracy, which proved to be reliable for the quantitative analysis of multiple components in mulberry leaves. Using this validated approach, obvious variations in active component contents were observed among different cultivars.
Morus alba L. showed the highest content of core active components, followed by
Morus australis and
Morus cathayana. Regarding different geographical origins, samples from Wanzhou District possessed the highest contents of chlorogenic acid, rutin, isoquercitrin, and astragalin. Samples from urban areas, including Nan’an Districts showed the lowest contents. The overall content presented a gradient distribution of outer suburban mountains higher than suburban hills and suburban hills higher than urban areas. This study provided preliminary insights into the variation patterns of secondary metabolites in mulberry leaves from different cultivars and origins in Chongqing, and offered a reference basis for germplasm evaluation, quality control, and high-value utilization of mulberry leaf resources.
Keywords
Morus alba; mulberry leaves; flavonoids; phenolic acids; HPLC-DAD; geographical variation; quality evaluation
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