Efectos benéficos de la Moringa oleífera en la salud de las personas / Effects of Moringa oleifera on Human Health

Introducción: El programa nacional cubano de la agricultura urbana y suburbana prioriza la promoción, venta, divulgación del cultivo casero y a nivel comunitario de la Moringa oleífera, pues se le atribuyen múltiples beneficios para el bienestar general del ser humano. Objetivo: Describir los efectos benéficos de la Moringa oleífera en la salud de las personas. Métodos: Se realizó una búsqueda de la literatura relevante sobre el tema, en el mes de agosto de 2020. Se utilizaron como buscadores de información científica a SciELO, Pubmed, Google y Google Académico. La estrategia de búsqueda incluyó los siguientes términos como palabras clave: moringa oleífera, nutrición, efectos benéficos. Se evaluaron artículos de revisión, de investigación y páginas web que, en general, tenían menos de 10 años de publicados, en idioma español, portugués e inglés, y que hicieran referencia específicamente al tema de estudio a través del título. Esto permitió evaluar 68 artículos, de los cuales 36 fueron referenciados. Conclusiones: La Moringa oleífera, es una planta apreciada por sus propiedades nutricionales, nutracéuticas y funcionales. Ejerce un efecto benéfico en la salud de las personas, atribuibles fundamentalmente a sus propiedades antioxidantes, insulinosensibilizantes e inmunomoduladoras, con amplias consecuencias de protección sobre varios órganos y de equilibrio en el metabolismo de los carbohidratos, los lípidos y las proteínas. Asimismo, se plantea que, posee efectos anticancerígenos, antiinflamatorios y actividad antimicrobiana, antifúngica, antiviral y antihelmíntica, entre otras cualidades. De ahí, su empleo como suplemento nutricional y coadyuvante en la prevención y el tratamiento de múltiples enfermedades(AU)

Introduction: The Cuban national program for urban and suburban agriculture has among its priorities the promotion, sale and dissemination of the home and community cultivation of Moringa oleifera, since it is attributed multiple benefits for the general well-being of the human being. Objective: To describe in a general way, the beneficial effects of Moringa oleifera on people's health. Method: A search of the relevant literature on the subject was carried out in August 2020. Scielo, Pubmed, Google and Google Scholar were used as search engines for scientific information. The search strategy included the following terms as keywords: Moringa oleifera, nutrition, beneficial effects. Review articles, research articles and Web pages that, in general, had been published for less than 10 years, in Spanish, Portuguese and English, and that made specific reference to the subject of study through the title, were evaluated. This allowed evaluating 68 articles, of which 36 were referenced. Conclusions: Moringa oleifera is a plant appreciated for its nutritional, nutraceutical and functional properties. It exerts a beneficial effect on people's health, fundamentally attributable to its antioxidant, insulin-sensitizing and immunomodulatory properties, with broad protective consequences on various organs and balance in the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. Likewise, it is proposed that it has anticancer, anti-inflammatory effects and antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral and anthelmintic activity, among other qualities. Hence, its use as a nutritional supplement and adjuvant in the prevention and treatment of multiple diseases(AU)

Physicochemical characterization and antioxidant activity of decolorized Moringa oleifera Lam leaf flour

BACKGROUND: Maringa oleifera leaves are rich in antioxidant substances; however, when lyophilized leaves were used in flour form in meat products, they presented no antioxidant effect and even accelerated the oxidation process of the product. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of chlorophyll extraction on the physicochemical composition and antioxidant activity of Moringa leaves. METHODS: Moringa leaves were dried and ground in order to obtain uniform flour. A treatment using chlorophyll extraction (decolorized) was tested versus a control treatment(non-decolorized) for proximate composition, instrumental color, and antioxidant activity using ANOVA followed by Tukey'stest. RESULTS: Higher crude fiber, ash, and protein contents were observed for decolorized flour (19.41 and 38.13%, 11.87 and14.02%, and 28.81 and 31.33%, respectively) when compared to those for the control. Chlorophyll extraction significantly affected (p< 0.05) the instrumental color of the leaves flour. The half maximal effective concentration (EC50) of both decolorized and control flour was 3.74 and 4.30 mg/L, respectively. The equivalent of antioxidant per gramof non-decolorized leaves was higher than that observed for the decolorized leaves (0.36 and 0.32 g/g DPPH, respectively). The antioxidant activity (AA%) of the extract from non-decolorized leaves was higher in the concentrations of 5 and 2.5 mg/0.1 mL, while the decolorized leaves was higher in the extract concentration 5 and 2 mg/0.1 ml. CONCLUSION: The decolorization process affected the chemical composition and color of Moringa oleifera leaves flours however did not improve its antioxidant activity