Traditionally, mulberry (Morusalba) is chewed in toothache to avoid further destruction or cavitation of the tooth. Morusalba has gathered great attention for its antioxidative and antidiabetic effects and is an important ingredient of herbal tea. In spite of being known as nature’s tonic, very limited information is available regarding the anticariogenic potential of the crude extract of the leaves of the mulberry. However, a flavonoid, kuwanon-G, which had been isolated from the root bark of Morusalba, shows antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutansonly. The present study intends to study the antiplaque potential of the hot methanol extract of Morusalba leaves.
The minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) of hot methanol extract of Morusalba(2.5mg/ 10ml) was used to study its effect on the virulence factors of biofilm forming Streptococcus mutans. The strategies for effective treatment against the dental caries includes the elimination of mutans streptococci, inhibition of the colonization, reduction of the glucosyltransferase activity, inhibition of glucanproduction. The hot methanol extract of leaves of Morus alba (10mg/ 10ml) has shown more efficiency minimal bacterial concentration (MBC) which means it more efficient in complete inhibition of Streptococcus mutans bacteria. The minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) of hot methanol extract of Morusalba(2.5mg/ 10ml) was shown in complete inhibition glucosyltransferase production, reduction of the glucosyltransferase activity in terms of glucan production, reduction in the bacterial density of the biofilm and the decrease in thickness of the preformed biofilm of Streptococcus mutans. An extension of this work in future will be to investigate the components present in the hot alcoholic extract of Morusalba leaves.
