1.3 Alkaloids
The alkaloids present in large concentration in mulberry leaves are
aurantiamide acetate, 1-deoxynojirimycin (1-DNJ) which is most potent
glycosidase inhibitor that decrease the blood sugar level, D-fagomine
(FAG), 2-O- αDgalactopyranosyl-deoxynojirimycin (GAL-DNJ),
4-O-β-D-dlucopyranosyl-fagomine (Glu-FAG), isofagomine,
cis-5-hydroxypipecolic acid, trans-5-hydroxypipecolic acid,
methylpyrrolidine carboxylic acid and pipecolic acid.The main active
constituent in Mulberry leaves is 1-Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) and has
attracted attention of many researchers because of its effective and
specific inhibition of different enzymes involved in wide range of
important biological processes such as maturation of the sugar chains in
glycoproteins, intestinal digestion [14]. The DNJ acts as an
antithyperglycemic agent which slow down the rate of carbohydrate
degradation to monosaccharides and it can also interrupt glucose
absorption and then reduce post prandial blood glucose levels [15].
The structure of DNJ is same as the sugars is shown in figure 3.