Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Morus alba
Pronounced White Mulberry = MUL-ber-ee; Sang Ye = sahng YEH; Morus alba = MOR-us AL-buh
Cool, light, and acrid-sweet: a gentle surface-reliever that scatters wind-heat, quiets a hot dry cough, cools red irritated eyes, and, in modern use, softens the post-meal blood-sugar spike.
Little reliable human safety data. NCCIH states plainly that little is known about whether white mulberry leaf is safe to use during pregnancy. Mulberry leaf tea and culinary leaf have a long history of ordinary consumption, and classical TCM does not list Sang Ye among the pregnancy-contraindicated herbs, but concentrated, blood-sugar-standardized extracts have not been evaluated in pregnancy and carry a hypoglycemia risk. Prefer, at most, modest tea amounts; avoid concentrated therapeutic or DNJ-enriched extracts in pregnancy. Source: NCCIH, White Mulberry Leaf: Usefulness and Safety; AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed.
Little reliable data. NCCIH states that little is known about whether white mulberry leaf is safe while breastfeeding; there are no lactation-specific studies. Ordinary tea amounts are unlikely to be a concern, but concentrated extracts are not established as safe. Prefer tea amounts, monitor the infant, and avoid standardized high-DNJ extracts without professional guidance. Source: NCCIH, White Mulberry Leaf: Usefulness and Safety.
No pediatric safety data from modern trials. Sang Ye appears in traditional Chinese pediatric wind-heat formulas as a gentle herb, and a mild leaf tea is generally well tolerated. Reserve concentrated blood-sugar (DNJ-enriched) extracts for adults or qualified pediatric supervision because of the hypoglycemia risk and the associated GI effects. Source: NCCIH, White Mulberry Leaf; traditional TCM pediatric use (Bensky, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica).
Generally gentle and well tolerated as a tea or in food, with a long record of ordinary consumption (mulberry leaf tea; silkworm-fodder crop). The most common adverse effect, seen mainly with concentrated blood-sugar extracts, is digestive: bloating, gas, loose stools, or mild constipation, an extension of its alpha-glucosidase-inhibiting action in the gut. Because it measurably lowers post-meal blood glucose, watch for hypoglycemia when it is combined with glucose-lowering drugs or used by people prone to low blood sugar. Its cool, dispersing nature can aggravate cold, deficient, cold-cough, or cold-digestion patterns. Do not use concentrated eye or systemic preparations to self-treat serious eye disease. Distinguish white mulberry (Morus alba) leaf from black mulberry (Morus nigra) and from the unrelated trees rendered 'mulberry' in some English Bibles.
No absolute contraindications at food and tea amounts. Use concentrated, blood-sugar-standardized (DNJ-enriched) extracts cautiously and with glucose monitoring in anyone on antidiabetic medication or prone to hypoglycemia, and coordinate around surgery given the glucose-lowering effect. Avoid concentrated therapeutic extracts in pregnancy and lactation, where safety data are lacking. Use cautiously in cold, Yang-deficient, or cold-phlegm cough and cold, weak digestion. Reserve concentrated extracts in children for qualified supervision.
Morus alba is one of the most widely cultivated trees on earth (silk industry, ornamental, animal fodder) and is abundant; it is not at risk and not on the United Plant Savers list. It is, in fact, naturalized and invasive across much of North America, where it hybridizes with and threatens the native red mulberry (Morus rubra). No conservation concern for the plant itself; prefer cultivated, organically grown leaf to limit pesticide load, and favor cultivated over any wild collection near the imperiled native species.
White Mulberry (Morus alba) is native to China and is not a plant of the biblical Near East; it reached the Mediterranean world later with the silk trade. The 'mulberry trees' of the King James Version in 2 Samuel 5:23-24 and 1 Chronicles 14:14-15 render the Hebrew beka'im, now generally identified as the balsam or poplar (Populus euphratica), not a true Morus. The one plausible biblical mulberry is the 'sycamine tree' (Greek sykaminos) of Luke 17:6, traditionally identified as the black mulberry (Morus nigra), a different species. The definitive traditional source for the leaf as medicine is the Chinese Shennong Ben Cao Jing (Han era), under Sang.
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