Vol. 12, Special Issue 7 (2023)

Author(s):
Ramesh Babu Potu, D Nagalakshmi, M Venkateswarlu, S V Rama Rao, B Swathi and K Prashanth Kumar

Abstract:
A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of inclusion of mulberry leaves at varying levels in concentrate mixture on total phenols and antioxidant activity. The antioxidant capacity of mulberry (MBL) leaves and their inclusion in the concentrate mixtures at varying levels were evaluated in vitro. The control concentrate mixture was prepared with maize grain, de-oiled rice bran, cotton seed cake and soybean meal as major ingredients. The other 7 iso-nitrogenous (20% CP) concentrate mixtures were prepared by partially replacing de-oiled rice bran and cotton seed cake with MBL at varying levels (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35%). The total phenolic content (TPC) gradually increased (P<0.01) from 3.87 to 7.68 mg of gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per g and from 4.13 to 11.06 mg of tannic acid equivalent (TAE) per g with inclusion of MBL leaves from 0 to 35% in concentrate mixtures. The non-tannin phenols (NTAP) and tannins (TA) increased (P<0.01) from 2.79 to 4.86 mg of TAE per g and 1.34 to 6.21 mg of tannins per g. Similarly, the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity (%) increased (P<0.01) from 0 to 30% (7.29 to 73.22) with inclusion of MBL leaves in concentrate mixtures and the activity at 35% (72.90) inclusion was comparable with that of 30% (73.22). The increase in TPC, NTAP, TA and DPPH activity in concentrate mixtures was due to higher content of these components in MBL leaves.