The entire plant extract of Morus alba L. has been widely used in traditional medicine for treating various disorders such as diabetes and also as health tonic. But there is no report available so far regarding the presence of acetylcholine esterase inhibitors in this plant. The aim of the present study was to test the M. alba leaf extract for acetylcholine esterase inhibitory activity. The 50% methanolic extract of M. alba was tested for its in vitro acetylcholine esterase inhibitory activity using modified Ellmann’s method. The crude methanolic showed acetylcholine esterase inhibitory activity in a concentration dependent manner and around 10 μg of the extract was required for 50% inhibition of the activity. The major compounds in the extract were identified using RP-HPLC analysis as vanillic acid, myricetin, luteolin and kaempferol. Out of this four major compounds, myricetin, luteolin and kaempferol showed significant acetylcholine esterase inhibitory activity when tested individually. So I conclude that the M.alba leaf extract possess significant acetylcholine esterase inhibitory activity and the compounds responsible for this effect were identified as myricetin, luteolin and kaempfeol. This is the first study on the identification of acetylcholine esterase inhibitors from M.alba.
