Mukberry Fruit Extract
Morus fruit from Morus alba, the mulberry plant, is often called
mulberry fruit. Although there are many species of Morus, the one
grown in China is the white mulberry (alba = white). One of the
primary uses of the plant is for raising silkworms, which utilize
the leaves as their main food source. China has been producing silk
since ancient times and remains one of the world's primary sources.
The Chinese term for the mulberry plant is sang, and the fruits are
known in China as sanshenzi or simply sangshen. The fruit is
botanically called a sorosis, because it is formed by the
consolidation of many flowers. It is juicy and has a sweet taste
with some sourness that is more prominent in the less mature
fruits.
Mulberry fruit is classified in the modern Chinese Materia Medica
as a blood tonic, and is listed along with herbs having similar
traditional uses such as ho-shou-wu (Polygonum multiflorum, root),
cooked rehmannia (Rehmannia glutinosa, root), ligustrum (Ligustrum
lucidum, fruit) and lycium (Lycium chinensis, fruit).
Traditionally, mulberry fruit has been used as a medicinal agent to
nourish the yin and blood, benefit the kidneys, and treat weakness,
fatigue, anemia, and premature graying of hair. It is also used
utilized to treat urinary incontinence, tinnitus, dizziness, and
constipation in the elderly and the anemic.
The dominant taste of the ripe fruit is sweet but usually somewhat
bland, due to the high water content and low level of other
flavoring ingredients, but a richer flavor develops if the fruit is
dried; it can then be used as a raisin substitute. In recent years,
with considerable work on cultivating the mulberry plants under
various conditions, mulberry fruit juice has been commercially
produced as a health beverage, and it has become very popular in
China, Japan, and Korea. Without adding preservatives, the original
juice of mulberry fruit remains fresh under cold storage for 3
months, while the bottled beverage remains fresh at room
temperature for 12 months.
As a result of working with the fresh fruits to yield a juice
product, the constituents have been analyzed. The main content of
fresh, ripe mulberry fruit is:
Water: 85-88%
Carbohydrate (sugars, mainly glucose and fructose, producing the
sweet taste): 7.8-9.2%
Protein: 0.4-1.5%
Fat (mainly fatty acids, such as linoleic, stearic, and oleic acids
in the seeds): 0.4-0.5%
Free acids (mainly malic acid, producing the sour taste): 1.1-1.9%
Fiber: 0.9-1.4%
Minerals: 0.7-0.9%
Nutritious and Bright
Mulberry is a kind of nourishing tonic medicine that can broadly be
used to cure some debility symptoms when used with other
restoratives. The person who has symptoms such as anemia,
dizziness, or low libido, can take a tonic to build up health with
mulberry. An electuary, made from a prescription of mulberry with
medlar, ligustrum, and schizandra, can nourish and enrich the
blood; the wine made by immersing the mulberry in rice wine or
grape wine, is a medicament for weakness after diseases that can
also be used to tonify masculine vitality and benefit overall
vitality.
Mulberry can nourish and promote production of body fluid. The
person who has body fluid deficiency often feels their mouth
parched and tongue scorched. When mulberry is ripe in the summer, a
person can take one ounce every day. This product has a faint scent
and sweet taste, suitable for people of all ages. Brew water to
take the dry fruit, using 10 grams each time. The person who has
dry eyes and uses their eyes a lot during work can drink mulberry
juice, which can nourish the body fluid and strengthen sight.
Mulberry contains plentiful nutritious elements, such as minerals
and vitamins; it can cure chronic diseases of the digestive tract,
promote gastric juice secretion, strengthen the ability for
digesting and assimilating, improve the appetite, and eliminate
abdominal distention and constipation. Mulberry is suitable also
for chronic gastritis and chronic hepatitis.
Nourishing Blood and Blacken Hair
Mulberry has the function of nourishing blood. If the person who
has anemia, pallor, dizziness, insomnia, and heart-palpitations
regularly takes mulberry juice, they will experience good effects.
Women who have the above symptoms after childbirth, or anyone after
a long-time sickness or after a major operation, can take mulberry
frequently as a restorative. Compounding with other herbs to make
Wuchang, mulberry is combined with tang-kuei, ligustrum, and
rehmannia. A prescription or compound such as Wuchang can nourish
blood, blacken hair, and help grow hair. Those who experience
premature agi
