ABSTRACT
Moringa oleifera is a typical tropical multi-functional fast-growing tree species， which is native to India and now widely planted in various tropical regions. After some research and textual research， the records of M. oleifera in China can be traced back to the The Bower Manuscript（volume Ⅱ）（about the 4th—6th century A.D.） unearthed in Kuqa， Xinjiang. M. oleifera contains a variety of active ingredients such as flavonoids， alkaloids， glycosides， organic esters and rich nutrients， which has outstanding medicinal and economic value. As a result， M. oleifera is widely used in food additives， water purification agents， medicine and health care and other fields. In 2012， the Ministry of Health approved M. oleifera as a new resource food. In the current trend of medicine diet and health preservation of traditional Chinese medicine， M. oleifera stands out， which not only expands the direction for the development of health products， but also enriches the development demand of traditional Chinese medicine in our country. However， in our country， the research on M. oleifera is mainly focused on the extraction of chemical components， analysis of nutritional components， consumption and content determination， and the research on its composition and pharmacological action is one-sided. For this purpose， this paper briefly reviewed the active components， hypoglycemic and treatment of diabetic complications， hypolipidemic， antioxidant， anti-inflammatory and applied research status of M. oleifera， and looked forward to the future development and utilization of M. oleifera leaves in China.