Effect of &lt;i&gt;Moringa oleifera&lt;/i&gt; leaf powder inclusion on the phytochemical and antioxidant activity of &lt;i&gt;akamu&lt;/i&gt;

I.S Asogwa,J.C Ani

doi:10.4314/as.v16i2.4

Abstract

Moringa leaf powder (MLP) was added akamu at 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% levels of incorporation and labelled MA1, MA2, MA3 and MA4 respectively. Another batch of MLP was blended with an equal amount of soybean powder (SBF) and similarly incorporated into akamu at the same levels and labelled MSA1, MSA2, MSA3 and MSA4. Akamu supplemented with 40% soybean flour (SBA) and unsupplemented akamu (AKM) served as controls. The total phenolic content of akamu increased from 0.35 to 3.06 g/100g, flavonoids increased from 0.06 to 0.27 g/100g for AKM and MA4, respectively. The total phenolic content for SBF incorporated akamu increased (p < 0.05) from 0.35 g/100g to 1.71 g/100g, flavonoids increased (p < 0.05) from 0.06 g/100g to 0.25 g/100g for AKM and MSA4 respectively. The percentage DPPH scavenging activity of akamu was enhanced significantly (p < 0.05) by the addition of MLP and SBF. The DPPH activity of MA4 (88.91%) was significantly higher than that of the AKM (33.40%). Similarly, the DPPH activity of MSA4 (86.34%) was higher than that of AKM. There were significant (p < 0.05) increases in reducing power with levels of addition of both MLP and SBF. The reducing power was elevated from 2.30 mg/g for AKM to 28.8 mg/g for MA4 and to 39.9 mg/g for MSA4. The inclusion of moringa leaf powder (with or without soybean flour) was able to significantly increase the antioxidant activity of akamu, thus enhancing its functional status.Keywords: Moringa leaf powder, soybean flour, phytochemicals, antioxidant activity

Highlights

The National Academy of Sciences’ Food and Nutrition Board defined functional foods as “any modified food or food ingredient that may provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients it contains” (IOM/NAS, 1994)
The data on the effects of Moringa leaf powder (MLP) addition on the phytochemical content of akamu are presented on Table 2, while the data on the effects of MLP/Soybean flour (SBF) addition on the phytochemical content of akamu is presented on Table 3
Addition of either MLP alone or a blend of MLP/SBF led to significant (p

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The National Academy of Sciences’ Food and Nutrition Board defined functional foods as “any modified food or food ingredient that may provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients it contains” (IOM/NAS, 1994). Since the majority of people living in the rural areas cannot afford milk based infant formula for supplementation of akamu, the search for cheaper alternatives became very necessary It is in this light that Akinrele and Edwards (1971) enriched ogi with soya bean to form a product known as soy-ogi, which has wide acceptability in Nigeria. The antibiotic (Eilertet al., 1981) and antimicrobial properties of the leaves have been reported (Palaniswamy, 2005) It is against this background that this present study was designed to investigate the effect of moringa leaf powder inclusion inakamu (with or without soy bean flour) on the phytochemical and antioxidant status of akamu

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION