PHENOLIC CONTENT AND IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF BLACK MULBERRY („Morus Nigra L.“) FRUIT, JUICE AND POMACE

Black mulberry fruits are a good source of valuable nutrients and a wide range of bioactive compounds including polyphenols, flavonols, polysaccharides and anthocyanins. To investigate the possible conversion of mulberry pomace as by-product into highly-valuable food additive, in this work the distribution of the total phenols, flavanols, monomeric and polymeric anthocyanins during black mulberry juice production was characterized. Also, the antioxidant properties (antioxidant capacity and ferric reducing power) of the obtained juice as well as water and methanol extracts of black mulberry pomace were detected. The results of this investigation clearly suggested that mulberry pomace is promising nutritional by-product for consindering in fuctional foods devolopment.