Mulberries

Mulberries are a fruit, treated as a berry.

Mulberries are not sold in markets. They are such a soft fruit that they would not survive harvesting, packaging and shipping, without some expense, and historically there hasn’t been a market demand for them.

Mulberries aren’t actually berries botanically; like a raspberry, each mulberry is actually a cluster of tiny fruit. The fruit looks somewhat like blackberries, ranging in colour from dark red to black. They are very fragile and can crush easily.

Mulberry production

A mulberry tree, depending on the variety, can grow up to around 20 metres (70 feet) tall. From seed, the tree needs about 10 years before it starts bearing fruit. The flowers are not very spectacular: the BBC’s “Plant Finder” database refers to them as “inconspicuous.” They are called “catkins”; they look something like a sheep’s tail. Male catkins are longer than female ones.

Though there are varieties of mulberry trees that don’t produce any fruit, most produce fruit in abundance and without much effort because the flowers can be pollinated by the wind.

Fruit from the Himalayan mulberry (“Morus macroura“) can be close to 5 cm (two inches) long.

In Asia, mulberry trees are mostly grown for their leaves, to feed to silkworms. There are more agricultural stats on harvests of mulberry leaves than there are of mulberry berries.

Black Mulberry

The black mulberry (“morus nigra“) has larger fruit that has somewhat more taste than other mulberries. The fruit ripens from green to red to dark purple.

The tree can grow up to 20 metres (70 feet tall), but usually stays around 9 metres (30 feet). The black mulberry tree is native to Asia, but has been grown in Europe for hundreds of years.

Red Mulberry

Red mulberry (“morus rubra“) is native to Eastern North America. In some places it is listed as a threatened species. The berries ripen to red.

White Mulberry

The white mulberry tree (“morus alba“), is sometimes referred to as the North American mulberry. This is a sign of its success: it’s actually native to China, but it has become so naturalized in North America that some think it is indigenous. In fact, it has done so well that in some spots it is treated as an invasive weed. People don’t seem to mind the tree itself, but all up and down and across the continent this is the tree that grows wild along property lines and whose fruit stains driveways, patios and kitchen floors, as kids and dogs track it into the house. The fruit ripens from green to red to purple and then black.

White mulberry trees grow up to about 10 metres (35 feet) tall and 13 metres (40 feet) wide. A single tree can have up to three different leaf shapes on it: heart-shaped, lobed or shaped like a child’s mitten.

This is the variety used in China to grow silkworms on.

pH of Mulberries

The pH of mulberries can vary widely based on the variety:

“The pH of the eight mulberry fruits were from 3.37 (Jushensang) to 5.33 (Lvshenzi) and the Morus multicaulis Perr. has relatively high pH values of 4.80 (Hongyayizhilaishisheng99-6) and 4.44 (Damo4××guiV-4).” ^[1]Liang, Linghong et al. “Chemical composition, nutritional value, and antioxidant activities of eight mulberry cultivars from China.” Pharmacognosy magazine vol. 8,31 (2012): 215-24. doi:10.4103/0973-1296.99287

Another source gives similar pH ranges:

“M. alba presents the highest value (5.6), while the M. rubra and M. nigra have values of 4.04 and 3.52, respectively.” ^[2]Memete, Adrianna Ramona, et al. Phytochemical Composition of Different Botanical Parts of Morus Species, Health Benefits and Application in Food Industry. Plants 2022, 11(2), 152; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11020152.

Consequently, for food safety reasons home canning recipes for mulberry jams or jellies should likely include some form of acidification to ensure a resultant product with a pH below 4.6 to prevent botulism.

Mulberry Wine

To make mulberry wine, mulberries are usually mixed with grapes for flavour and body. The mulberry wine needs to be stored in dark bottles in dark places because its colour is very sensitive to light.

Cooking Tips

Use mulberries as you would blackberries or raspberries.

Mulberries will stain concrete and counter tops with ease, so exercise caution.

Many tiny insects are often amongst the clusters; soak briefly in water first before using to flood them out.

Some people eat the berries fresh.

Nutrition

Per 100 g / 3.5 oz: Fat .5 g, Carbohydrate 8.3 g, Protein 1.5 g, Vitamin C 13 mg

Equivalents

1 ½ gallons of Mulberries = 1 gallon of juice.