Enhancement of Piperidine Alkaloid Contents by Lactic Acid Fermentation of Mulberry Leaves (Morus alba L.)

This study was carried out to investigate solid-state fermentation method using cellulolytic lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum TO-2100 in order to increase piperidine alkaloid contents in mulberry leaves. Piperidine alkaloid, one type of which include 1-deoxynojirimycin (1-DNJ), is known to inhibit α-glycosidase activities. Using this strain, the optimal solid-state fermentation conditions on mulberry leaves powder were found as the following: initial moisture content, temperature and relative humidity were 20%, 30 ~ 35℃ and 60 ~ 70%, respectively, and the fermentation time was 72 hrs. The piperidine alkaloid contents in the fermented mulberry leaves were 2.86% on dry powder, which is 7-fold increase from that of non-fermented mulberry leaves. The 1-deoxynojirimycin contents after applying preparative thin layer chromatography were 2.02% on dry powder, which is 8 times higher than that of non-fermented mulberry leaves. α-Glycosidase activities was inhibited by 65.7 ~ 84.7% with 3 ~ 5% treatments of hot-water extracts of the fermented mulberry leaves, compared to 16.2 ~ 40.2% with 3 ~ 5% treatments of hot-water extracts of non-fermented mulberry leaves. Therefore, the results suggest that solid-state fermentation method does indeed increase of piperidine alkaloid contents on mulberry leaves.