<div>Background: The present study on the topic &ldquo;Phytomorphology and nutrient dynamics of mulberry leaves&rdquo; revealed high variability among mulberry varieties. Internodes were largest in variety Tr4 (6.06%). Actual leaf area was high in variety S146 (275.57 cm2). Numbers of leaves per meter branch was largest in variety S1531 (20.9). During 5 periodic sampling from sprouting to maturity average fresh and dry leaf weight of 100 leaves was high (197.93g) and (60.24g) respectively during 5th sampling. Average moisture content was high (83.41%) during 1st sampling highest average chlorophyll content (SPAD value) was also observed during 4th sampling (40.01%). Acidity was also high in variety Tr4 during maturity. Sugar content was high in variety T1 (3.66%) during 1st sampling (15 days). Starch and ash content was high in variety S1708 (43.06%) and (32.50%) during 5th sampling. Nitrogen and protein content was highest in variety S1608 (5.02%) and (31.56%) respectively during 1st sampling.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: In the field-laboratory investigation was conducted at Division of Sericulture,&nbsp;Division of Biochemistry and Plant Physiology, SKUAST-J, Chatha, during spring 2013. Ten mulberry varieties T1, Tr4, V1, S146, S1708, S799, S1608, S1531, S41 and Sujanpur were evaluated for phytomorphological and nutrient dynamic studies. The experiment was laid in complete randomized block design with three replicates. Each variety was taken as treatment and observations were recorded after 15 days interval upto 75th day after sprouting.&nbsp; 
 
Result: On the basis of current result, parameter observed fluctuations from the date of sprouting till maturity. Varietal response to periodic sampling too varied. Protein decreases age along with sugar, nitrogen. On the contrary starch, biomass, ash, chlorophyll shown a gradual increase. This information can be utilized to harvest a particular type of leaf for a particular age and rearing.</div>

<div>Phytomorphology and Nutrient Dynamics of Mulberry Leaf</div>

Background: Leaf webber Diaphania pulverulentalis is identified as one of the major pest which infests mulberry gardens and cause damage to mulberry growth and development and reduced nutritive levels in leaves. As mulberry is the prime food source of silkworm Bombyx mori L. the leaf webber infested leaves fed to the silkworm shows greater impact on the yield of, cocoon both quantity and quality. Hence, the present investigation was carried out to understand the impact of leaf webber infestation on various popular mulberry varieties and on silkworm growth and cocoon yield.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The study was conducted in selected ten mandals of Anantapuramu district, Andhra Pradesh during 2016-2019. The infested leaves were collected randomly form each mulberry garden and the same were analysed for various parameters like&nbsp;growth and development and biochemical parameters and silkworm bioassay. And analysed as per standard operating proceures.&nbsp; 
 
Result: Photosynthetic pigments of&nbsp; leaf webber infested mulberry leaves. i.e total chlorophylls in selected three mulberry varieties are decreased by an average of&nbsp;40.17% and followed by carotenoids with a average decrease&nbsp;of 40.85%. Biomolecule components mainly proteins in selected varieties found to be decreased with the average percentage of 24.62 and carbohydrates and starch decreased with the average percentage of&nbsp;47.09% 16.09% respectively. but in the phenols are increased with the average percentage of 57.39%, when compared with control (7.61%).

Studies on the Impact of Leaf Webber Diaphania pulverulentalis on Different Mulberry Varieties and Silkworm Bombyx mori L.

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: Root knot disease caused by the nematode Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White) Chit wood is a serious problem in mulberry and causes severe damage to growth and development of plants.&nbsp; Root knot nematode alter or depletes nutritional values of mulberry leaves and adversely affects to the silkworm health in turn decreases cocoon quality and quantity. The anatomical changes in the roots due to nematode infestation affects the cocoon crop negatively, because&nbsp; mulberry leaves main food source for silkworm Bombyx mori L. ultimately leads to economic loss in silk industry. 
 
Methods: Hence the present study has been taken up to understand the histopathological changes that occur in the roots of mulberry&nbsp; V1 variety plants infested with nematode Meloidogyne incognita studied under the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with an interval of 15 and 60 days after nematode inoculation. 
 
Result: After fifteen days the root samples have shown thick starchy grains were accumulated in the parenchymatous cells and intracellular movement of juveniles. Sixty days after the infested root samples had shown a number of large sized galls or knots. Ultra- structural observation of the root gall cross sections under scanning electron microscope revealed that serious anatomical changes occur in the infested mulberry root tissues.</div>

Histopathological Studies of Mulberry Roots Infested by Meloidogyne incognita (Sem Analysis)

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: Morus macroura Miq. is a potential tree species belonging to the Mulberry group, and consider as flora identity of West Sumatra Province with local name is Andalas. This germplasm tropical tree species utilize widely by local West Sumatran people for various purposes such as wood material to construct the traditional house of ethnic Minangkabau and medicinal substance for multiple diseases. However, the population numbers of this species were decreased and rare due to overexploitation without effort for planting. Based on this reason, it is imperative to conserve and utilize sustainable Mulberry. There is a highlight confusion to clarify that M. macroura from Sumatra population similar to Himalayan Mulberry. For this reason, it is essential to define the crucial local M. macroura from Sumatra (Sumatran Mulberry) for its conservation and sustainable utilization. &nbsp; Methods: In this study, the leaves from seven individuals of M. macroura collected from West Sumatra were used for DNA extraction and processed to the next step of the analysis. Four individuals of Himalayan Mulberry and both of two out-group, White Mulberry (M. alba), and Black Mulberry (M. nigra) were used in this study. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was performed using two ITS markers (ITS5-F and ITS4-R) with an annealing temperature of 55oC. The PCR products were purified and sequenced by Macrogen USA DNA Sequencing. The phyllogenetic relationship between seven accessions and two of out-group (M. alba and M. nigra) were analyzed using the MEGA6 program. &nbsp; Result: The result indicated that all of the accessions M. macroura from Sumatra were grouped into the same cluster and separated to the Himalayan Mulberry group. The differentiation between Sumatran Mulberry and other Mulberry reflected in morphological and haplotype differentiation indicated that the Sumatran Mulberry as the different group and suggested as a variety with scientific name is M. macroura Miq. var. macroura. This clarification is useful for conservation and sustainable utilization of this variety, a specific Mulberry from Sumatra.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Clarification of Sumatran Mulberry (Morus macroura var. macroura, Moraceae) from West Sumatra, Indonesia using Nucleus Ribosomal ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) Gene</div>

Mulberry leaf is a sole food of silkworm Bombyx mori on which it feeds and produces silk called mulberry or mori silk. Due to its quality, mori silk has huge demand in national and international market and earns a valuable foreign exchange for the country. Weeds are of great menace as they interfere with production and quality of mulberry leaf and also add significant amount to the cost of cultivation. The factors which are congenial for heavy weed growth in mulberry are continuous mono-cropping, wider spacing coupled with regular application of manures and fertilizers after each crop harvest for maintenance of plantation. The reduction in production and quality of leaf has direct correlation with production of cocoons and quality silk. If losses due to weeds can be reduced by half from present level of 30-40%, leaf yield of mulberry will increase by 9-12 MT ha-1 year-1 which can be utilized to produce 55-73.5 kg ha-1 year-1 more raw silk to enhance the silk production of country. The effective weed control involves identification of weed flora, method of weed control and judicious combination of effective weed control methods. Depending upon soil type, agro climatic and ecological conditions, the nature and intensity of weed flora, their competitiveness varies. A total of 57-141 weed species belongs to 28-44 families have been reported in mulberry field across the country. Manual weeding in mulberry is an age old practice in India, but it is a tedious, expensive and time consuming. Black polyethylene mulching alone has been found economically advantageous over manual weeding in mulberry plantation. However no single method viz., manual weeding, cover crop intercropping, herbicide and mulching found effective in weed control as compared to integrated method of weed control. Spraying of pre-emergence and early post emergence herbicides keeps the mulberry plantation in weed free conditions during the early stages. At later stage, when second flush of weeds attains peak after 30 days of pruning, spraying of herbicide is not possible due to chance of residual toxicity to the silkworm. Integration of pre herbicide followed by manual weeding at later stage or integration of hand weeding after pruning followed by either cover crop intercropping or mulching may helps to reduce damage due to weed, prevent silkworm from residual toxicity of herbicide and reduces manual weeding cost to some extent. Hence a brief review was presented to find out the influence of different weed management method in mulberry.

Weed Management in Mulberry (Morus alba): A Review

<div>Background: The relative abundance and all year availability of Carica papaya necessitated this study and the availability of these leaves in almost all regions of the world. 
 
Methods: Air-dried and fresh Carica papaya leaves were collected for comparative analysis to investigate the proximate constituent, minerals, vitamins and presence of phytochemicals. The analyses were investigated in accordance with standard procedures.&nbsp; 
 
Result: The results of proximate showed that the fresh leaves contained higher level of crude fat, ash, crude fiber and crude protein when compared with the dry leaves. However, the dry leaves have higher percentages of calcium, sodium and phosphorus when compared with the fresh leaves. The fresh leaves shows higher levels of vitamins, (mg/100 g) ascorbic acid (C) 26.9, thiamine (B1) 0.62, riboflavin (B2) 0.69, however, the tocopherol (E) 48.195 content of the dry leaves was comparably higher. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of numerous bioactive compounds: saponin, phenol, terpene, oxalate, tannin, steroid, phytate and alkaloids. Thus, fresh pawpaw leaf gave a source of essential nutrients while dry pawpaw leaf was a source of calcium, sodium and phosphorus. Therefore, pawpaw leaves can be manipulated in the herbal treatment of various diseases and a potential source of useful elements for drugs formulation.</div>

Nutrient Evaluation and Phytochemical Analysis of Fresh and Dry Leaves of Carica papaya

<div>Background: Olive leaves are of great interest, especially in traditional medicine. The polyphenols contained in olive leaves play an important role in this respect, as they have anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. Olive leaves share phenolic compounds with other plants, but they also contain phenolic compounds belonging to the Oleaceae family.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: We report the determination of phenolic compounds in olive leaves by HPLC and the evaluation of their in vitro activity against several microorganisms that may be causal agents of human intestinal and respiratory tract infections, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter cloacae, Proteus mirabilis and Salmonella typhimurium. 
 
Result: The results reveal that the olive leaves may constitute a good source of antimicrobial agents. The high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis showed the presence of five phenolic compounds: oleuropein, ascorbic acid, rutin, catechinand verbascoside and for the first time ascorbic acid. At low concentrations, olive leaf extracts showed an unusual antibacterial action, which suggests their great potential as nutraceuticals, particularly as a source of phenolic compounds.</div>

Phenolic Compounds and Antimicrobial Activity of Olive (Olea europaea L.) Leaves

<div style="text-align: justify;">The present study assesses the feasibility of noni and mulberry as a raw substrate for the production of probiotic noni and mulberry juice by lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum SK-3 and Pediococcus acidilactici M-3). Changes in pH, titratable acidity (lactic acid), cell survival, and antioxidant properties were examined during fermentation. Both the strains grew well in noni juice and mulberry juice after 48 hour fermentation. P. acidilactici M-3 produced less lactic acid than L. plantarum SK-3. After 28 days of cold storage, both tested strains survived the low-pH conditions in fermented noni juice and mulberry juice. Both the juices fermented with L. plantarum SK-3 had a high antioxidant capacity. The noni and mulberry juice fermented with L. plantarum SK-3 had shown the cholesterol-lowering ability better than the juices fermented with P. acidilactici M-3. Finally, L. plantarum SK-3 and P. acidilactici M-3 were found as optimal probiotics for fermentation with noni juice as well as mulberry juice. In this investigation, the results could be an indicator of the development of health-promoting food juices.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Probiotic Potential of Noni and Mulberry Juice Fermented with Lactic Acid Bacteria</div>

<div>Background: The aim of present research was to evaluate under in vitro conditions, the effect of alfalfa hay substitution by raw garlic leaves on ruminal fermentation patterns and methane production in diets ruminants.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: Four treatments were evaluated: (T1) alfalfa hay (50%); (T2) alfalfa hay (33%) + raw garlic leaves (17%); (T3) alfalfa hay (17%) + raw garlic leaves (33%) and (T4) raw garlic leaves (50%).&nbsp; 
 
Result: The highest values of fractional rate of gas production (kd), ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N), propionate and microbial biomass synthesis (MBS) was recorded in T4 and the lowest in T1 (P&lt;0.05). In contrast, the highest methane production was recorded in T1 and the lowest in T4 (P&lt;0.05). It was concluded that the substitution of alfalfa hay by raw garlic leaves in diet with 50% roughages and 50% concentrate result in an improvement in vitro rumen fermentation pattern and decreases the methane production.</div>

Effect of Alfalfa Hay Substitution by Raw Garlic Leaves on In vitro Gas Methane Production and Ruminal Fermentation

Five promising tanniferous tree leaves viz. Acacia nilotica, Eugenia jambolana, Ficus religiosa, L. leucocephala and Psidium guajava were selected for in vitro antioxidant and anticoccidial properties against avian Eimeria species. Condensed tannins (CT) extracts of above tree leaves were prepared in 70 % acetone and then freeze dried in lyophilizer. Antioxidant property of lyophilized acetone extract of different CT sources was evaluated by in-vitro methods. The 2, 2-diphenyl-1- picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity was significantly higher in P. guajava as compared to other CT sources. However, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging activity was significantly (P&lt;0.05) lower in L. leucocephala compared to other CT sources. The CT extract of A. nilotica, E. jambolana, F. religiosa and P. guajava showed significantly (P&lt;0.05) higher reducing power than that of L. leucocephala. Sporulation inhibition (%) of Eimeria spp. was significantly (P&lt;0.05) higher in E. jambolana and P. guajava, followed by A. nilotica, L. leucocephla and least in F. religiosa, while, E. jambolana and P. guajava showed maximum sporulation inhibition activity @ 4 mg/ml. It was concluded that CT extracts of A. nilotica, E. jambolana, F. religiosa, L. leucocephala and P. guajava leaves possess the antioxidant and anti-coccidian property. It may be eco-friendly socioeconomic alternative, natural antioxidant, anti-coccidian agent and/ or natural feed additive for organic meat production.