Moringa Oleifera Dietary supplement

Moringa Oleifera as a Dietary supplement.Moringa Oleifera as a Dietary supplement.

Moringa Oleifera  is an unbelievable source of all macro, micro elements amino acids and dietary fiber.

About 2000 years ago, Hippocrates correctly emphasized “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food”.

Faculty of Engineering & Technology
Jadavpur University, Dietary supplement.

However,  supplements  should  not  replace variety of foods that are important to a healthy diet, so it is necessary to take variety of foods as well. We are currently eating foods that are out of balance even though the requirements for these nutrients for optimal health have remained constant (Eaton and Konner, 1985).

Moringa Oleifera  is an unbelievable source of all macro, micro elements amino acids and dietary fiber. No single food contains all of the vitamins and minerals. So it is unbelievable to get all the nutrients in a single plant. That’s why it is called as ‘miracle tree’. It is a good source of tocopherols, -carotene (pro-vitamin A), vitamin C, calcium, protein,  potassium. The leaf is highly nutritious and contains significant quantities of crude protein, vitamins and minerals. The pod is an excellent source of amino acid. Therefore the present investigation has been carried out to explore this plant as a nutritional Dietary supplement by estimating the food value.

The investigation work carried out has been represented in the thesis through the following section: The difference between the two is termed as “nutrient gap”. This can have adverse influences on the energy processes of the body that are necessary for all vital functions. Currently neutraceuticals are recognized as being beneficial in coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis and other chronic and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Evidences indicate that the mechanistic actions of natural compounds involve a wide array of biological processes, including activation of antioxidant defenses, signal transduction pathways, cell survival-associated gene expression, cell proliferation and differentiation and preservation of mitochondrial integrity. It appears that these properties play a crucial role in the protection against the pathologies of numerous age-related or chronic diseases (Mandel et al., 2005).

Moringa Oleifera  Lam (Moringaceae) has an impressive range of medicinal uses with high nutritional value. Different parts of this plant contain a profile of important minerals, and are a good source of protein, vitamins, beta-carotene, amino acids and various phenolics. Apart from that this plant also a rich source of vitamins (mainly water soluble) and also some essential elements like zinc, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, calcium in trace amount.

In the present study the nutritional value of Moringa Oleifera as a neutraceutical has been explored. Evaluations of the neutritional properties of this plant have a great importance in this work. The extracts were standardized with the help of HPTLC using Chlorogenic acid as marker. The CGA was found to be (3.16 % w/w) in the formulation of M. Oleifera, whereas the CGA was not found in pod. The leaf and the flowering part contain 2.99 % w/w and 2.46 % w/w of CGA per weight of extract respectively. CGA cannot be detected in the pod of this plant. During the total phenolic and flavonoid content determination it was observed that total phenolic (7.27%) and flavonoid (3.41%) content in the formulation was greater than its dietary ingredients. The total phenolic and flavonoid content will attribute to their antioxidant profile.

This plant is also economical to all regions and was used by many people due to its multiple utilities. Now a day, there is a growing demand for plant based medicines, health products, pharmaceuticals, food supplement, cosmetics etc. in the national and international market (Dureza et al., 2003). But most of the food supplements are not having proper quality evaluation. Also there are some foods used traditionally, having some ethnopharmacological relevance but no scientific evidence. The major challenge is to develop those scientific rationales behind their use. This work highlights on the exploration of therapeutic benefits of a food plant having medicinal value to a high extent.

The result shows that the plant provides an excellent source of macro nutrients and micronutrients. Hence it can also be further explored for development of nutritional supplement in future which may be useful in various disease conditions and thus promote the quality of life.

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Pharmacy.

In the Faculty of Engineering & Technology Jadavpur University
By Soma Majhi B. Pharm
Roll No: – M4PHA 13-27
Regd. No:- 117196 of 2011-2012
Department of Pharmaceutical Technology
Jadavpur University, Kolkata- 700032

Dietary supplement evaluation study