**6. Conclusion**

Best way to find out the solution of hunger and pharmaceutical demand is the discovery and exploitation of new biological resources. Products from natural resources are now being re-emphasized to encounter these issues. Connection between the health and diet is very clear and consumers are now-a-days very much concern about their health. The solution of rural hunger and helping them to come out of the nutritional deficiency is not only a matter of deep concern. Investigating these connections has drawn the attention of the scientists in exploration of biological functional foods and pharmaceuticals, which can dominate the global nutrition market. The current review attempts to point out the potentiality of mulberry species in different areas and it is clear that mulberry is a versatile plant from both food and pharmaceutical aspects with huge possibilities. Mulberry is a jewel of food industry. Being low in calories, this plant can be exploited in the preparation of hypo-caloric foodstuffs and also can be added as a new ingredient to enhance the functional properties of different popular foods. Products like jam, jelly, wine, vinegar, tea, syrup, squash and many more are successfully formulated from mulberry that aids industrialists for further effective utilization of its fruits, leaves and other plant parts. Mulberry is also among

#### *Mulberry as a Valuable Resource for Food and Pharmaceutical Industries: A Review DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104631*

the major ingredients in many traditional formulations sold worldwide. In addition to its exceptional usage in the food industry, recent studies have revealed that *Morus* species and their bioactive phytochemicals are having important biomedical activities, including anti-diabetic, antioxidants, anti-obesity, hypo-lipidemic, antihypertensive, and anti-atherosclerosis, etc. Tyrosinase inhibition activity of mulberry is comparable with kojic acid that makes it a wonderful ingredient in cosmetics. Different isolated chemical compounds like maclurin and morin, oxyresveratrol from different parts of *M. alba* shows potential tyrosinase inhibition activity. There are still some unidentified biological novel compounds present in mulberry that require proper exploration. Proper investigation, exploration and exploitation of mulberry in both food and pharmaceutical industry having the potentiality of creating a history.

### **7. Recommendations**

Sericulture is mainly known as a women friendly enterprise, because of the high percentage of involvement of rural women which is about 53.45% of the total employment generated in silk industry. Though broad involvement of rural women are significantly high in the silk industry, but the involvement of tribal people is still scanty [52] which should be considered for extension for financial support and development of small scale industries, mainly in the developing countries. It is the most important fact that the main concentration of the sericulture industry moves around the silkworm feeding, cocoon generation and silk rearing. The proper exploitation of the mulberry in terms of food product and pharmacologically potent substance is still far from the goal. Lack of proper infrastructure for cocoon production and reeling often becomes a barrier for the cultivation of mulberry plant, because *B. mori* moth can only feed upon the fresh and juicy mulberry leaves [53]. Rural people will be able to overcome these constrains if they will be properly trained about the other economic importance of mulberry.

In this context, it is highly recommendable that proper training, campaigning, infrastructure and market development along with broad research and development projects on proper scientific exploitation of mulberry other than feeding the silkworm is absolutely essential and urgent.

### **Acknowledgements**

Authors are grateful to the Hon'ble Vice Chancellor of Raiganj University, India for providing necessary facilities. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

### **Conflict of interest**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

*Medicinal Plants*
