1.3 Alkaloids
The alkaloids present in large concentration in mulberry leaves are aurantiamide acetate, 1-deoxynojirimycin (1-DNJ) which is most potent glycosidase inhibitor that decrease the blood sugar level, D-fagomine (FAG), 2-O- αDgalactopyranosyl-deoxynojirimycin (GAL-DNJ), 4-O-β-D-dlucopyranosyl-fagomine (Glu-FAG), isofagomine, cis-5-hydroxypipecolic acid, trans-5-hydroxypipecolic acid, methylpyrrolidine carboxylic acid and pipecolic acid.The main active constituent in Mulberry leaves is 1-Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) and has attracted attention of many researchers because of its effective and specific inhibition of different enzymes involved in wide range of important biological processes such as maturation of the sugar chains in glycoproteins, intestinal digestion [14]. The DNJ acts as an antithyperglycemic agent which slow down the rate of carbohydrate degradation to monosaccharides and it can also interrupt glucose absorption and then reduce post prandial blood glucose levels [15]. The structure of DNJ is same as the sugars is shown in figure 3.