Moringa Oleifera: An Overview of its History and Modern Research
Moringa oleifera is a deciduous tree native to northern India, and as a herbal remedy used in Ayurvedic practice has a long history as a source of food and medicine across Southern and Eastern Asia. The Moringa tree has spread globally to the point of being considered a naturalised plant in many regions other than its native habitat, such as in Africa and the Americas. It thrives in both tropical and subtropical zones, as well as being quite drought-adapted, and is a fast growing tree that quickly becomes harvest-ready, with its first flowers blooming just 6-8 months after planting, and the leaves being edible even before that. The Moringa tree has 13 different subspecies with Moringa oleifera being the most widely cultivated and studied.
Each part of the tree is used for an array of purposes, as bioactive compounds can be found throughout the entire plant; from the roots being shredded as a condiment, seeds used to extract oil, seedpods used as a vegetable in cooking, the flowers being a right delicacy, while also being steeped for tea. Likewise, Moringa leaves are also used as tea, as well as fresh additions to meals, and dried until they can be turned into Moringa powder, with this powder being added into meals and used as a herbal supplement, as it is rich in beta-carotene, potassium and calcium. The powdered leaves and oils can also be used as a moisturiser. Even the bark is used to treat ulcers and stomach issues. The sheer versatility of Moringa is part of how it achieved its title as “The Miracle Tree” [1]
Being widely used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years, where Moringa is also known as shigru, it was only a matter of time before this wonder-plant was studied by modern medicine. The research on Moringa covers a wide range of potential benefits, such as improving lung function in asthmatics, lowering cholesterol, easing symptoms of menopause, aiding liver function and wound healing, treating diabetes, and much more. Moringa oleifera is rich in macronutrients and micronutrients, vitamins, glycosides, alkaloids, and flavonoids giving it status as a high nutrition plant as well as providing an array of medicinally helpful compounds. [2]
One very recent meta analysis in 2023 by Pareek A, et al “Moringa oleifera: An Updated Comprehensive Review of Its Pharmacological Activities, Ethnomedicinal, Phytopharmaceutical Formulation, Clinical, Phytochemical, and Toxicological Aspects”, investigated collected data of over 100 different papers and studies on Moringa oleifera worldwide and analysed the documents which were published in English. The review was rather comprehensive, looking at pharmacological uses, toxicity, and phytochemistry of Moringa, as well as a section labelled “miscellaneous uses”, which examined applications like Moringa leaf extract’s ability to reduce the negative effects of Neem Oil, and its application as a plant growth regulator amongst others.
The review breaks down into 22 subsections when looking at just the pharmacological applications alone, where the researchers address in closer detail instances where Moringa oleifera has been shown in studies to exhibit health benefits. This ranges from antimicrobial and antifungal properties, effects on cardiovascular activity, to wound healing, anti-diabetic activity and more.
The second section of the meta-analysis breaks down antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity. Researchers note that “active compounds such as tannins, phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, carotenoids β-sitosterol, vanillin, and moringin have anti-inflammatory properties” [2]. In the third section exploring the effects of Moringa on oxidative stress, they looked at a study which states that extracts from Moringa leaf are significantly effective against liver toxicity. It also displayed an antioxidant potential as a preventative for epidermal (skin) oxidative stress.
It also appears that Moringa products may have blood-sugar lowering effects. If you are taking medication for diabetes, it is important to consult your doctor before using Moringa powder [3]. This being said, further studies are needed on the blood-sugar lowering properties of Moringa powder supplements, as one study in May of 2020 found no statistically significant modulation by Moringa extracts on patients’ blood sugar levels in a 14-day long trial with 40 participants [4]. If pregnant, it is best to stick to consuming only the Moringa leaves, or powder, which helps nutritional intake and hemoglobin levels, as other parts like the seeds and roots may have uterine-stimulating properties [5].
In the section of the meta-analysis where researchers explored any toxicity attributed to Moringa supplementation it is noted that most studies have been done in rats, but one study on humans found that “oral administration of dried leaves up to 2000 mg/kg had no harmful or lethal effect on the human body” [2]. This would be equal to a quantity of 140g of Moringa powder for the average adult, or about 70 times the recommended serving size. The studies on rats with both Moringa roots and seeds, as well as leaves showed that only excessively high concentrations of the extracts proved any issue and it is generally regarded as safe for consumption.
At the point of the study’s publication, there had been 25 clinical trials conducted. 15 had been completed with 9 of those studying Moringa oleifera as an element of a human diet, while the remaining studies were restricted to disease-specific drug interventions. The paper by Pareek et al summarises that the studies on Moringa “demonstrated the efficacy of using moringa for conditions such as malnutrition, chronic kidney disease, HIV infection, and reproductive health” saying further that the “pharmacological studies show that the active constituents of the plant have effectively cured various diseases such as neuropathic pain, hypertension, diabetes, obesity etc” [2].
The benefits of Moringa remain an active area of modern research and we are excited to see how this realm will be further explored, and help expand our insights of the various beneficial compounds within the Moringa tree.
References:
1) https://treetarian.com/complete-guide-to-moringa/
2) Pareek A, Pant M, Gupta MM, Kashania P, Ratan Y, Jain V, Chuturgoon AA. Moringa oleifera: "An Updated Comprehensive Review of Its Pharmacological Activities, Ethnomedicinal, Phytopharmaceutical Formulation, Clinical, Phytochemical, and Toxicological Aspects." Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan 20;24(3):2098. doi: 10.3390/ijms24032098. PMID: 36768420; PMCID: PMC9916933.
3) https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1242/moringa
4) et. al. "Effects of Moringa oleifera leaves on the blood glucose, blood pressure, and lipid profile of type 2 diabetic subjects: A parallel group randomized clinical trial of efficacy" Nutrition and Health 2023 May 25:2601060231176873. doi: 10.1177/02601060231176873.
5) Zeritu Dewana Derbo et. al. "The Effect of Fresh Moringa Leaf Consumption During Pregnancy on Maternal Hemoglobin Level in Southern Ethiopia: Multilevel Analysis of a Comparative Cross-Sectional Study" International Journal of Womens Health 2023 Jul 19;15:1125–1137. doi: 10.2147/IJWH.S412241
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Mecatl Cacao makes no therapeutic use claims. Therapeutic is defined by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) as:
1. preventing, diagnosing, curing or alleviating a disease, ailment, defect or injury in persons or animals; or
2. influencing, inhibiting or modifying a physiological process in persons or animals; or
3. testing the susceptibility of persons or animals to a disease or ailment; or
4. influencing, controlling or preventing conception in persons; or
5. testing for pregnancy in persons; or
6. the replacement or modification of parts of the anatomy in persons or animals.
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