IJARR, 1(2), 2016; 84-96 84 International Journal of Advanced Research and Review www.ijarr.in A REVIEW OF ETHNOBOTANY, PHYTOCHEMISTRY, ANTIVIRAL AND CYTOTOXIC / ANTICANCER POTENTIAL OF MORUS ALBA LINN. Ishrat Younus 1 *, Anab Fatima 1 , Syed Muzaffar Ali 1 , Saman Usmani 1 , Zubia Begum 1 , Sehrish Badar 1 and Rabia Asghar 2 1 Faculty of Pharmacy, Hamdard University, Karachi, Pakistan. 21 Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Lahore, Lahore Pakistan *Address for correspondence: E-mail: ishratyounas@gmail.com ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Morus alba Linn. belongs to family Moraceae commonly known as White mulberry, is one of the old and popular plant esteemed for its wide variety of nutritional and therapeutic values. It has great antiviral and cytotoxic potential. The present review summarizes ethnobotany, phytochemistry, antiviral and cytotoxic / anticancer potential of Morus alba. Phytochemical screening of Morus alba revealed the presence of flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, polysaccharides and lectins which act as antiviral, cytotoxic and antiapoptotic compounds. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review focusing on antiviral and cytotoxic potential of Morus alba Linn. in detail. ______________________________________________________________________________ Key words: Morus alba, phytochemistry, antiviral, cytotoxicity, anticancer INTRODUCTION Since from history plants and herbs are extensively and successfully used for the prevention and treatment of different type of diseases (Wang et al., 2004). In fact, all the nations of world have strong beliefs upon herbs for primary health care because they are economical, easily available and possess more bioavailability with fewer side effects (Mukherjee et al., 2007). Almost 40% of these modernized pharmaceuticals are obtained from plant sources, through natural or artificial processes (Mukhtar et al., 2008: Jassim and Naji, 2003). Morus alba (MA) commonly known as White mulberry / silkworm mulberry. It is very effective medicinal plant and its different parts are used in different type of diseases. The plant is esteemed for its wide range of medicinal properties like antioxidant, antibacterial, antidiabetic and antiviral. Moreover it is also used in the inhibition or eradication of diseases such as atherogenesis, carcinomas, neurodegenerative disorders as well as skin ailments (Butt et al., 2009). MA leaves are also effective as antibacterial, antihypertensive and antiviral (Zhou and Huang, 2007). Active constituents of mulberry leaf are polysaccharides which has potential to decrease blood glucose level and blood pressure. Moreover it also controls immune system