BOVOLID – CHEMICAL COMPOUND FOR EVALUATING THE AGE OF WHITE MULBERRY LEAVES

Abstract

Tree Morus species are growing in Serbia, Morus alba, Morus nigra and Morus rubra. Morus leaves are used in traditional medicine, and after collecting them, drying is most practiced method for preservation. Hydrodistillation of 2 fresh and 2 dryed for one month samples of Morus alba and nigraleaves was done by using the original Clevenger-type apparatus. The composition of essential oils was determined by GC-MS aparathus. The yields of essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation were 0.0011 and 0.0012% from the dried plant material (MNL-2 and MAL-2, respectively) and 0.0080% (w/w) from both samples of fresh leaves (MNL-1 and MAL-1). The predominant constituent in all essential oils was trans-phytol. Only the essential oil obtained from dried M. alba leaves contained the chemical compound bovolid (8.1%). Based on results, bovolid can be used as indicator for evaluating the age of white mulberry leaves.