Morus alba, member of the Moraceae family, is a perennial tree utilized in folk medicine, preparing the modern drug, and considered the main food for silkworms. However, data on chemical content in the leaves is still limited; the main objective of this study is to detect the presence and determine the concentration of different polyphenolic constituents in the leaves of the Morus alba plant by reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and evaluate the cytotoxic effect of ethyl acetate extract of this plant on human breast cancer (AMJ-13) cell line. Phytochemical analysis of the Morus alba leaves ethyl acetate extract led to identifying and quantification of six polyphenolic constituents designated as phenolic acids (caffeic, chlorogenic, and p-coumaric acid), catechins (epicatechin) and flavonoids (luteolin and apigenin) in which p-coumaric acid exhibited the highest concentration follow by luteolin (identified for the first time), chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, apigenin and epicatechin as the least. According to estimates, the ethyl acetate extract with a high concentration of polyphenolic constituents gave the best findings as cytotoxic against breast cancer AMJ-13 cell line with an IC50 value of 129.5 µg/ml.
