Protein antioxidant capacity from moringa oleifera fresh and commercialised leaf

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is one of the most reported medicinal plants with various health benefits while its commercialised leaf in dried and powdered form is currently a blooming herbal product in the market. Apart from some profiling work, the protein from M. oleifera that tops other plants was never focused. Since protein is an essential nutrient and could interact with a substrate or another protein, its role in the pharmacological activity is highly anticipated. Hence, this study was done to highlight on the antioxidant ability of protein and comparing it with crude extract from fresh and commercialised Moringa’s leaf via Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) free radical assay. Interestingly, the protein extract from commercialised leaf of M. oleifera elucidated significantly higher antioxidant activity compared to other samples. It had the highest reducing power (±SEM) of 2381.88±25.16 (mM Fe2+/g) and even highest radical scavenging activity of 46.26±0.2 (%RSA). Thus, the protein contained in this blooming product would benefit its consumers. Plus, instead of relying solely on the crude extract, detailed study on the mechanism of the protein extracts on its therapeutic properties is highly anticipated.