Preliminary Phytochemical Screening of Stem Callus of Morus alba Linn.

ABSTRACT

Morus alba Linn. [Moraceae], commonly known as mulberry, is monoecious, occasionally dioecious shrub or a moderate sized tree and is valued for its foliage which constitute the chief feed for mulberry silkworms [Anonymous, 1962]. The contents of Cu, Zn, B and Mn in stem were 9, 8, 13 and 29 ppm respectively [Shiha and Kodaira, 1952]. Betulinic acid, and four new flavone derivatives - mulberrin, mulberrochromene, cyclomulberrin and cyclornulberrochromene have been isolated from root and stem bark [Deshpande et al., 1968]. Till date there is no report on the stem callus of M. alba. The present study on Morus alba stem callus was undertaken in order to investigate the possibility of production of phytochemicals in the callus