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ARTICLE

Assessment of Phytochemical Analysis, Nutritional Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Moringa oleifera

by Naima Asghar¹, Abida Aziz¹, Muhammad Farooq Azhar², Mohamed El-Sharnouby³, Uzma Irfan¹, Iqra Rafiq¹, Husnain Farooq^4,5,*, Muhammad Ishaq Asif Rehmani⁶, Mohamed I. Sakran⁷, A. Altalhi⁸, Fahad M. Alzuaibr⁹, Ayman El Sabagh^10,*

1 Department of Botany, The Women University, Multan, 66000, Pakistan
2 Department of Forestry and Range Management, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 60800, Pakistan
3 Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia
4 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, 92521, USA
5 Department of Forestry, Range, and Wildlife, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, 32200, Pakistan
6 Department of Agronomy, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, 32200, Pakistan
7 Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, 47512, Saudi Arabia
8 Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Taif University, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia
9 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, 71491, Saudi Arabia
10 Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kafrelsheikh, Kafr Elsheikh, 33516, Egypt

* Corresponding Authors: Husnain Farooq. Email: ; Ayman EL Sabagh. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Therapeutic Efficiency of Phyto-Molecules)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2022, 91(8), 1817-1829. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2022.020790

Received 12 December 2021; Accepted 10 February 2022; Issue published 14 April 2022

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is a miracle plant rich in nutrients, antioxidants, and antibiotic properties. Present study was designed to evaluate various biochemical attributes of leaves and flowers of M. oleifera. Plant parts (leaves, flowers) of M. oleifera, collected from different roadsides of Multan district, Punjab, Pakistan, were used as experimental material. Result indicates that alkaloids, saponin, carbohydrates, fats, and protein had a high value in the aqueous extract of both leaves and flowers of M. oleifera. Whereas phenol content was high in methanolic leaves extract and the phenol contents were high in aqueous extract of flowers. The extract yield of M. oleifera leaves and flowers both showed a higher percentage in aqueous extract (57.5%), followed by methanol extract and lowest in ethyl acetate extract. Flavonoids contents were higher in ethyl acetate extract of leaves (33.67%) and aqueous extract of flowers (53.71%). While crude fiber was high in methanolic extract of leaves (12.40%) and in flowers crude fiber was high in ethyl acetate extract (15.86%). The moisture contents were higher in leaves (8.87%) than flowers (7.3%) and similarly, ash percentage in flowers (52.60%) than leaves (41.84%). Ethyl acetate extracts of M. oleifera leaves show antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa while methanolic extract of M. oleifera flowers shows antibacterial activity against Xanthomonas sp. Maximum growth inhibits show in all extracts of leaves against Aspergillus flavus, F. oxysporum, and P. glabrum except for the concentrated aqueous extract of leaves. While in flowers maximum growth inhibits all extracts against P. glabrum, A. niger, and A. flavus except the diluted ethyl acetate extract. Phytochemicals present in different parts of moringa have significant edible and commercial potential. Moringa extracts exhibited significant antimicrobial activity, therefore have applications in pharmaceuticals.

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