What are the research advances in the extraction of functional components and product development in Moringa?

Moringa (Moringa oleifera, or Drumstick tree, Horseradish tree), is a perennial plant of the genus Moringa in the family of Moringaceae, a fast-growing tree native to the southern foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, drought-tolerant, and preferring to be born in sandy loam soils. In China, Moringa leaves were approved as new resource food in 2012.

The main functional components in Moringa

1. Fatty acids

Moringa seeds are rich in fat – moringa seed oil (content of 42-54%), which is light yellow in color and has excellent properties such as odorless, not easy to glue, not easy to rot.

Studies have shown that moringa seed oil is rich in fatty acids, with a fatty acid profile similar to that of olive oil, but with a higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acids (about 82%, and up to 70% oleic acid), and is therefore considered to be a good source of edible oil.

2. Protein and amino acids

Moringa protein is a highly exploitable functional ingredient. Studies have confirmed that the protein content of moringa leaves and seed kernels is four times higher than that of milk, and that the dried powder of moringa flakes contains 27.1% crude protein, making it not only an ideal food for vegetarians in developed countries, but also a natural nutrient reservoir for women and children in poorer regions.

In addition, moringa contains 11 kinds of essential amino acids, especially lysine and threonine content is the highest.

3. Flavonoids and polyphenols

Moringa contains a certain amount of flavonoids in different organs, of which the flower stalk contains the most and the root the least, with the content varying from 0.53% to 4.47%.

According to a large number of literature reports, the aqueous or alcoholic extracts of Moringa leaves have significant antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, inhibition of human cancer cell proliferation and promotion of apoptosis, scavenging of free radicals in the body, antioxidant and attenuation of oxidative damage induced by γ-ray irradiation in mice, mainly due to the extracts are rich in polyphenols (quercetin, kaempferol, chlorogenic acid, etc.) and flavonoids.

4. Polysaccharides

Polysaccharides are one of the important active ingredients in Moringa. The polysaccharide content of different organs of Moringa is the highest in the roots and the lowest in the petioles, and its content varies from 8.16% to 33.61%.

5. Vitamins

Moringa leaves are rich in vitamins, with high content of vitamin C, vitamin E, folic acid, pantothenic acid and biotin. It has been reported that the content of vitamin C in moringa leaves is seven times higher than that of citrus, and vitamin A is four times higher than that of carrots.

Research has confirmed that 100g of Moringa leaves contain 155.67 mg of vitamin E. A daily intake of 25 g of Moringa leaf powder can fully satisfy the amount of vitamin E required by different groups of people.

6. Other

In addition to the above common functional ingredients, moringa also contains a variety of inorganic elements, including Ca, K, P, S, Mg content are high. Moringa leaves contain 3 times more potassium than bananas and 3 times more iron than spinach. 100 g of moringa leaf powder contains 3.49 times more calcium, 11.28 times more iron, 3.92 times more potassium, and 11.39 times more iron, 1.67 times more iron, and 0.93 times more potassium than milk powder and soya bean powder respectively.

Moringa series product development research progress

According to the trend of research and development of moringa at home and abroad and the market, the development and utilization of moringa products are mainly focused on the following aspects.

1. Traditional food

In Malaysia, moringa seeds are directly used for food, and the young leaves can be made into gazpacho, vegetable curry, etc. In Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand, Cambodia and other countries, moringa leaves are a common local vegetable, and they can also be made into seasonings for daily use.

In 2007, the Philippine Senate proposed to promote the cultivation of moringa as a priority crop in the country. In the main producing areas of Moringa in China, Moringa leaves are also widely consumed as a vegetable and processed into a variety of foods such as Moringa Leaf Nutritious Noodles and Moringa Leaf Healthy Biscuits.

Moringa leaves as a vegetable fresh food at the same time, but also be dried and processed into moringa powder, Ma Li Yi et al. studied the different drying methods on the nutritional value of moringa leaves (minerals, vitamins, proteins and crude fat, etc.), the results show that in the various drying methods of the moringa leaves, freeze-drying method of the moringa leaves of the mineral elements, proteins and crude fat content of the influence of the smaller, microwave and infrared drying method, on the VC, VE and VB2 contents were least damaged.

Teixeira et al. reported that although moringa leaves are rich in proteins, most of the proteins have low solubility and low absorption and utilization, so the suitability of moringa leaves as a source of protein in the human diet needs to be further investigated.

It has also been reported that moringa root may contain alkaloids such as moriginine, and moringa seed contains some alkaloids and saponins, which may cause miscarriage if consumed improperly, and even life-threatening if ingested in large quantities, so it is necessary to evaluate the safety of moringa as a traditional food.

2. Functional Foods

As summarized above, moringa is rich in natural active ingredients, so in addition to the development of moringa as a novel and palatable tropical vegetables, the more important value lies in the processing and development of a variety of forms of functional foods or additives to adapt to the market, to obtain high economic benefits.

In the United States, Britain, Australia and other developed countries on moringa research investment, in the United States, the University of Washington, Purdue University, the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom have a specialized research moringa institutions, the market has been moringa capsules, moringa tablets, moringa oil, moringa nutrient powder, moringa health care tea and other mature products.

China in the development of functional food of moringa relatively lagging behind. Duan Qiongfen and other moringa seed oil as a substrate, supplemented with phytosterols and other efficacy components, developed a natural alcohol products moringa alcohol stomach capsule, and its anti-drunkenness efficacy of the preliminary test in mice, proving that the product has anti-drunkenness in mice.

He Yinfeng and others took skim milk powder as the main raw material, added moringa juice, developed moringa flavor nutritional yogurt.

Xiong Yao extracted protein from moringa leaves, developed and determined the optimal formula of clear moringa protein drink and moringa protein milk tea.

Kan Huan to moringa leaves as raw materials, the choice of ultra-micro-mill crushing moringa leaf powder, the use of polyvinylpyrrolidone aqueous solution of moringa leaf powder granulation, tableting, preparation of moringa leaf tablets, the product has a clear flavor of moringa leaves, hardness is moderate, with good solubility and dispersion, microbiological indicators in line with national health standards.

With the hot research of moringa, China’s many biotechnology companies have also begun to invest in research and development of moringa series products, mainly including moringa tea, moringa wine, moringa soup, moringa nutrient powder, moringa wine, moringa tablets, moringa capsules, moringa cans, etc., some of the moringa products have been seen in China’s market, but compared to the foreign market is still a phoenix in the sky.

3. Drinking water treatment agent

Moringa active coagulation components can remove 99% of bacteria, no side effects of treated drinking water, is the most promising natural coagulant, usually after the extraction of oil from moringa seeds which can be used as a water purification treatment of biologically active proteins have not been reduced, so after the production of moringa seed oil oil cake can be further processed into a drinking water treatment agent.

With the development of industry, industrial wastewater pollution is serious, so the development of moringa drinking water or wastewater treatment agent has a good product market prospects. At home and abroad, there have been many studies on the water purification protein of moringa, its review is also more exhaustive, and will not be repeated in this paper.

4. Cosmetics raw materials

Moringa mature seeds contain 38% -40% of the non-drying oil, of which oleic acid accounts for more than 73%, unrefined moringa oil induction period (at 120 ℃) is 9 times that of olive oil, refined moringa oil is 2.5 times that of olive oil, fatty acid species and olive oil are similar to those that are not easy to oxidize, it is an excellent raw material for cosmetics.

At present, moringa extract has been widely used in creams, lotions, masks, shampoos, hair care, eye and other cosmetic beauty field, such as moringa multi-functional shampoo, shower gel, moringa cleanser, moringa lasso mask, moringa moisturizer, moringa hydrating day cream, moringa night cream, moringa acne cream, and other new products have enriched the needs of the people.

5. Other products

Moringa whole plant can be used as high-protein plant protein feed, after extracting the oil cake containing 58.9% crude protein; trunk is a good raw material for paper industry; roots contain 0.2% alkaloids, especially moringa and phoenix-tailed moringa has an obvious bactericidal effect, can be developed into a natural detergent and bio-pesticides; waste residues can be used as soil conditioners and organic fertilizers.