Effect of drying methods on chemical composition of moringa leaves powder

الملخص EN

Moringa leaves contain large amount of several important nutrients which are essential to the human body.

The present investigation efforts have been made to prepare powder from (Moringa oleifera L.) leaves by different drying methods, including shadow drying, and oven drying at different temperatures (٥٠°C, ٦٠°C and ٧٠°C).

Results indicated that shadow dried sample was better than oven dried samples due its high nutrients content.

Moisture, protein, fat, fiber, ash and total carbohydrate contents of moringa powder were found in the range of ٤.٨٠ -٦.٧٧%, ٢١.٥٢ to ٢٢.٩٠%, ٧.٩٤ -٩.١١%, ٩.٣٦-١١.٢١%, ٧.٧١-٨.١٣% and ٥٣.٠٩- ٦٠.١٢%, respectively.

Sixteen amino acids were identified in moringa leaves powder.

Lysin, leucine and phenylalanine were the most abundant essential amino acids in all studied samples.

Moringa leaves powder contained ١٧ fatty acids.

The highest saturated fatty acid was palmitic acid (C١٦:٠) of dried moringa leaves dried at ٥٠o C (١٠.٧٧g/ ١٠٠g fat) while the major unsaturated fatty acid was α-Linolenic (C١٨:٣) of dried moringa leaves dried at ٦٠o C (٥٢.٤٦ g/١٠٠g fat).

Vitamins A, E and C were present in different concentrations, where the highest values were found in fresh moringa leaves followed by leaves dried in shadow while those of lower values were found in oven dried sample.

Results also illustrated that the moringa leaves powder is rich source of natural antioxidants.

The highest content of the identificated sugars in moringa leaves powder (shadow drying) was stachyose (١٠٠٩.٧٥ mg /١٠٠g).

Glucuronic acid was found in moderate concentration (٨٧٦.٥٩ mg/١٠٠g).

Sucrose and raffinose were also detected (٦٠٨.٦٨ mg/١٠٠g, ٦٠٧.٨٩ mg/١٠٠g), respectively in moringa leaves powder.

The study revealed that dried leaf powder of moringa can serve as an excellent source of nutrientional value and it was concluded that shadow drying method was the best method for drying moringa leaves.