Kingdom: Plantae

Sub kingdom: Tracheobionta

Superdivision: Spermatophyta

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Subclass: Dilleniidae

Order: Brassicales

Family: Moringaceae

Genus: Moringa

Species: Moringa oleifera Lam.

•  Root tastes like horseradish.

•  Studies have found antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, antiasthmatic, antiurolithiatic, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, chemomodulatory, antiulcer, anthelmintic, antifungal, water-purifying, analgesic, antiatherogenic, hypolipidemic, cardioprotective, and blood pressure-lowering qualities.

•  Considered an abortifacient, emmenagogue, galactagogue, rubefacient, antiscorbutic, diuretic, stimulant, purgative, antibiotic, and antifungal.

•  Supposedly good for lowering blood pressure, treating headaches and migraines, reducing inflammatory and arthritic symptoms, anti-ulcer, and anti-tumor.

• Native to the Indian subcontinent, and widely used in South and Southeast Asia. This plant is now pantropic and is often found as a garden vegetable and border plant across the Philippines in populated areas at low and medium altitudes.

    Phytochemical Constituents:

•  Tannins

•  Carbohydrates

•  Saponins

•  Glycosides

•  Reducing sugars

•  Terpenoids

•  Steroids

•  Flavonoids

•  Alkaloids

•  Protein steroids

•  Anthraquinone

•  Cynogenetic

•  Oil

Industrial Uses:

•  A garden vegetable and border plant.

Pharmaceutical uses:

•  Decoction of leaves used for sores and wounds, rheumatism, back pain, gout, and hiccups.

•  Fruit and leaves are used to treat constipation.

•  Root decoction, boiled and applied as a sore and ulcer wash, utilized in delirious patients and is thought to have antiscorbutic properties.

•  A root infusion used to treat dropsy is utilized in Nicaragua.

•  Root bark decoction used as a fomentation for calculous diseases and to reduce spasms.

•  Root juice is used to treat otalgia.

•  Bark is applied as a rubefacient.

•  Chewing on leaves to improve urine flow in gonorrhea cases.

•  Young roots are a diuretic and stimulant.

•  Used to relieve articular and rheumatic pain in the African savannah.

Pharmacological uses:

•  Anti-Inflammatory / Anti-tumor: A study found that at a dosage of 3 mg/g body weight, the crude ethanol extract of dried seeds reduced carrageenan-induced inflammation in mice's hind paws by 85%, and the mature green seeds reduced it by 77%. The extract's 100% inhibition of EBV-EA production at g/ml suggests that it has antitumor-promoting properties.

•  Antiasthma / Seeds: A study assessed the safety and effectiveness of M. oleifera seed kernels in the management of asthma in the lungs. The findings point to the potential benefit of MO seed kernels for asthma sufferers.

•  Antiurolithiatic: Research using alcoholic and aqueous extracts of MO suggested antiurolithiatic action by reducing components that form stones in the kidneys of calculogenic rats.

•  Antipyretic and Wound Healing: Research on the ethanolic and ethyl acetate extracts of MO revealed notable antipyretic activity in rats; on rat wound models, the ethyl acetate extract of dried leaves demonstrated notable wound healing.

•  Analgesic / Seeds: Research from the past has indicated that MO leaves have analgesic properties. The alcoholic extract of MO seeds had strong analgesic efficacy in this trial, matching a dose of aspirin of 25 mg/kg BW.

•  Anti-Ulcer: Research on M. oleifera extract demonstrated gastrointestinal tract ulcer prevention by regulating 5-HT production through EC dell via 5-HT3 receptors.

•  Anti-Diabetic / Leaves: Blood glucose levels were significantly lowered, as well as the levels of urine sugar and protein, in rats with sub-, mild-, and severely-induced diabetes treated with aqueous extract of MO leaves. Research supports the scientific validity of claims made about MO's use of ethnomedicine to treat diabetes mellitus. Drumstick leaves were included in the formulation of dehydrated green leafy tablets for a supplementation trial to assess their potential antidiabetic effects. The findings indicated that a good source of green leafy vegetables to lessen the effects of diabetes is drumstick leaves.

•  Leaf Powder as Hand Washing Product:

Using hands that had been intentionally contaminated with E. coli, Moringa oleifera leaf powder was tested as a hand washing product. Coli. The powder had an identical impact to non-medicated soap in both wet and dried application forms. M. oleifera could be extremely helpful in areas where the tree grows organically and there is no access to water or soap.

•  Antidiarrheal / Leaves: Using a castor oil-induced paradigm, the study assessed the anti-diarrheal activity of Moringa oleifera leaves in vivo. The extract exhibited considerable (p<0.01) anti-diarrheal efficacy at 150 and 300 mg/kbw in comparison to the control.

•  Anti-Arthritic Potential/Amelioration of Adjuvant Caused Arthritis: Using an animal model of arthritis caused by complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA), researchers assessed the anti-arthritic potential of Moringa oleifera. The findings demonstrated that MO therapy decreased inflammatory mediators PGE2 and COX-2 as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-a, IL-6, and IL-1ß in a dose-dependent way. The NF-kB pathway was shown to have anti-arthritic potential by the results.