Morin is a yellow chemical compound that can be isolated from ''
Maclura pomifera
''Maclura pomifera'', commonly known as the Osage orange ( ), is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, native to the south-central United States. It typically grows about tall. The distinctive fruit, a multiple fruit, is roughly spherical, b ...
'' (Osage orange), ''
Maclura tinctoria
''Maclura tinctoria'', known as old fustic and dyer's mulberry, is a medium to large tree of the Neotropics, from Mexico to Argentina. It produces a yellow dye called fustic primarily known for coloring khaki fabric for U.S. military apparel du ...
'' (old fustic), and from leaves of ''
Psidium guajava
''Psidium guajava'', the common guava, yellow guava, lemon guava, or apple guava is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to the Caribbean, Central America and South America. It is easily pollinated by insects; when cultivated, it is pollina ...
'' (common guava).
In a preclinical ''
in vitro
''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in biology an ...
'' study, morin was found to be a weak inhibitor of
fatty acid synthase
Fatty acid synthase (FAS) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''FASN'' gene.
Fatty acid synthase is a multi-enzyme protein that catalyzes fatty acid synthesis. It is not a single enzyme but a whole enzymatic system composed of two iden ...
with an
IC50 of 2.33 μM. Morin was also found to inhibit
amyloid
Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a Fibril, fibrillar morphology of 7–13 Nanometer, nm in diameter, a beta sheet (β-sheet) Secondary structure of proteins, secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be Staining, ...
formation by
islet amyloid polypeptide
Amylin, or islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), is a 37-residue peptide hormone. It is co-secreted with insulin from the pancreatic β-cells in the ratio of approximately 100:1 (insulin:amylin). Amylin plays a role in glycemic regulation by slow ...
(or amylin) and disaggregate amyloid fibers.
Morin exhibit inhibitory action against IgE-mediated allergic response. Morin treatment significantly down-regulated expressions of BLT2, NF-κB, and Th2-cytokine (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-13) in lungs of murine model of allergic asthma.
Morin can be used to test for the presence of
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
or
tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
in a solution, since it forms characteristically
fluorescent
Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...
coordination complex
A coordination complex consists of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ''ligands'' or complexing agents. Many ...
es with them.
Glycosides
* Morin-3-O-
arabinoside
Arabinose is an aldopentose – a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms, and including an aldehyde (CHO) functional group.
For biosynthetic reasons, most saccharides are almost always more abundant in nature as the "D"-form, or structurally ...
* Morin-3-O-
lyxoside
References
Flavonols
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