[Development of the harvest processing and application of Mulberry leaves]

Mulberry leaf was first recorded in the Shennong Bencao Jing(The Classic of Herbal Medicine)《》 on the list of drugs affixed, and first separate recorded in the Bencao Shiyi(Supplement to Materia Medica)《》. By checking Chinese herbs' literature of the harvest processing and application of mulberry leaves, we found that Mulberry leaves can be harvested in Summer and autumn before the Qing dynasty, but from Qing dynasty to present, those harvested in autumn and winter, which were called frost mulberry leaves or winter mulberry leaves, were seen as better. Before the Republic of China, mulberry leaves were dried in shade or on the fire, after that, they were dried in the sun. It can be found that the harvest processing of mulberry leaves was changing as time went on. The clinical application of mulberry leaves had multiplicity, depending on different picking time and different processing method. It is suggested that research of mulberry leaves on chemistry and pharmacology of picking time, processing method can result in new scientifically clinical application.