Moringa oleifera: A Powerful Source of Environmentally, Medicinally and Biotechnologically Relevant Compounds | Chapter 06 | Advances in Applied Science and Technology Vol. 5
Moringa oleifera Lamarck (Moringaceae
family) is a plant native from the Western and sub-Himalayan parts of Northwest
India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This species is widely cultivated across
Africa, South-East Asia, Arabia,
South America and
Caribbean Islands. M. oleifera culture is
also being distributed in
the Semi-Arid Northeast
of Brazil. It
is a multiuse
life tree with
great environmental economic importance in
industrial and medical areas. This review reports different purposes of M. oleifera including sustaining
environmental resources, soil
protection and shelter
for animals. This plant requires not much care and
distinct parts have bioactive compounds. Moringa tissues used in human and
animal diets, also withdraw pollutants from water. The seeds with coagulant
properties used in water
treatment for human
consumption, remove waste
products like surfactants,
heavy metals and pesticides. The oil extracted from seeds is used in
cosmetic production and as biodiesel. M.
oleifera tissues also contain
proteins with different
biological activities, including
lectins, chitin-binding proteins,
trypsin inhibitors, and
proteases. The lectins
are reported to act as
insecticidal agents against
Aedes aegypti (vector of
dengue, chikungunya and
yellow fevers) and Anagasta kuehniella (pest of
stored products) and also showed
water coagulant, antibacterial, antineoplastic and blood anticoagulant
activities. The presence of trypsin inhibitors has been reported in M. oleifera
leaves and flowers. The inhibitor from flowers is toxic to larvae of A. aegypti and to the protozoan Trypanosoma
cruzi. The flowers also contain caseinolytic proteases that are able to promote
clotting of milk. In this sense, M. oleifera is a promising tree from a
biotechnological point of view, since it has shown a great variety of uses and
it is a source of several compounds with a broad range of biological
activities.
Author(s) Details
Thiago Henrique Napoleão
Departamento de Bioquímica,
Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Avenida Prof. Moraes
Rego, S/N, Cidade Universitária, Recife-PE, 50670-420, Brazil.
Andréa F. S. Santos
CEB -Centre of Biological
Engineering, University of Minho, Braga, 4710-057, Portugal.
Luciana de Andrade Luz
Departamento de Bioquímica,
Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo-SP, 04044-020, Brazil.
Emmanuel Viana Pontual
Departamento de Morfologia e
Fisiologia Animal, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife-PE,
52171-900, Brazil.
Patrícia M. G. Paiva
Departamento de Bioquímica,
Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Avenida Prof. Moraes
Rego, S/N, Cidade Universitária, Recife-PE, 50670-420, Brazil.
Luana C. B. B. Coelho
Departamento de Bioquímica,
Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Avenida Prof. Moraes
Rego, S/N, Cidade Universitária, Recife-PE, 50670-420, Brazil.
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