ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL AND NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON OF MORINGA LEAF AND SEED POWDERS AND THEIR TEA INFUSIONS - M. Ilyas; M. U. Arshad; F. Saeed; M. Iqbal (Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 2015)
The core objective of current study was to compare the nutritional profile and antioxidant potential of moringa leaf and seed powders and their tea infusions. For the purpose, moringa leaf powder (MLP) and moringa seed powder (MSP) were characterized and subsequently utilized for the preparation of moringa tea infusions and then evaluated for their polyphenolic contents by Folin–Ciocalteu procedure, antioxidant activity by DPPH assay and minerals proﬁle by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results showed that MLP was found to possess higher fiber content (19.61±0.38%) than MSP. Whereas, the higher value of protein was exhibited by MSP (35.26±0.25%). The lower fat content was shown by MLP (2.82±0.27%), which was appreciably different from MSP (30.94±0.9%). Furthermore, among minerals, MLP and moringa leaf tea infusions possessed more calcium, phosphorus, sodium potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc and copper than MSP, moringa seed tea and their combination (leaf+ seed) tea infusions. However, the trace elements were present in relatively less quantity in both the powders and their infusions analyzed. Moreover, the higher TPC, TFC and DPPH scavenging activity were also found in MLP and moringa leaf tea infusions; these were better than MSP and moringa seed tea infusions. It is concluded that MLP, MSP and their respective infusions contained essential nutrients in significant amount and good antioxidant properties therefore, can be a part of diet based therapy for the management of chronic diseases.
Keywords: journal article; Moringa leaf and seed powders; Moringa tea infusions; minerals; total phenolics; total flavonoids; DPPH scavenging activity