Methods of Mimosine Extraction from Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit Leaves

Mimosine is a nonprotein amino acid biosynthesized from OAS (O-acetylserine) and 3H4P (3-hydroxy-4-pyridone or its tautoisomer 3,4-dihydroxypyridine). This amino acid constitutively occurs in all parts of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit plants and is found at higher concentrations in seeds and leaves. This metabolite has several useful activities, such as antioxidant, allelochemical, insecticidal, antimicrobial, metal chelating, and antitumor. Mimosine is well studied in biomedical research due its ability to inhibit cells in the late G1 phase and to induce cell apoptosis. Two simple methods of mimosine extraction from leucaena leaves, pulverized and whole maceration, are described herein in detail.