ABSTRACT
With the current resurgence of consumers of natural products, the treatment modality of highly prevalent oral disease, the dental caries is also refreshed. Among many natural products, the literature shows that mulberry plants of late is gaining popularity in the field of medical research owing to their multiple medicinal properties. The DNJ (1-Deoxynojirimycin) compound derived from mulberry plant is an alkaloid and has the property of inhibiting the growth of Streptococcus mutans, the chief bacterial cause of dental caries. This study aims to isolate the 1-DNJ compound from 94S36 and V1 varieties of mulberry plant, commonly grown in Southern parts of Karnataka and to evaluate the efficacy of the compound against S. mutans. The results of our study shows that DNJ was present in the leaf and root extracts of S36 and V1 varieties and extracts of S36 showed better inhibition of adherence of S. mutans and validates use for caries prevention.
