Moringa Species Research Articles

Analyzing the Contribution of Moringa oleifera (Lam.) to the CO\(_2\) Stock and Other Advantages for Urban Residents

Moringa oleifera Lam. is a tree with high nutritive values with essential nutrients, minerals, and vitamins. It makes the tree best for the urban residents in South Asian countries. The Moringa trees in Bilaspur city of Chhattisgarh, India, were enumerated, and their potential yield and CO2 storage were estimated. The resident response to the benefits of Moringa was explored through interviews. The main objectives of the study are analyzing of the CO2 stock in urban areas and the importance of moringa species for the growth of urban residences. Forty-eight sample plots of 50m x 50m size were laid out randomly across the city. The total number of Moringa trees in the city was 84499, accounting for 0.23 trees per capita. The increase in human density in urban sites negatively correlated with Moringa populations (R2=0.328). Young trees of 20-30cm diameter were abundant in the urban environment, which yield four to19kg tree-1 pods and 3 to 10kg leaf tree-1. An average Moringa tree stored 0.04tonne CO2, and overall, the stock was 3380tons of CO2 in these trees of the city. Eighty-five percent of the urban residents ranked first to the Moringa fruit followed by leaf and these were identified as the reason for the domestication of the trees by the urban resident. More than 58% of urban residents use different parts of the Moringa plant 15 - 25 times a year, and 27% of people use it more than 25 times as vegetables. The tree was most beneficial for urban residents, contributing to food security and climate change.Therefore the concept of "one house one Moringa" may be advocated for implementing the climate-smart urban policy.

Positive effects of Moringa oleifera and Moringa stenopetala seed and leaf extracts against selected bacteria

Moringa oleifera is hailed as the “miracle tree” for its impressive catalog of nutritional, medicinal, and water purification benefits. A (sub)tropical plant with a rapid growth rate (3–5 m in a single season), Moringa has proven beneficial in multiple ways in developing regions around the world. In addition to its high nutrient content and water clarifying properties, Moringa seed and leaf extracts have shown potential as natural antibacterial agents. Based on this, we anticipated that extracts from multiple species of Moringa would exhibit potentially useful antibacterial properties against a range of bacterial species. To explore this, both disk diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) culture techniques were employed to assess the inhibitory effects of seed and leaf extracts from M. oleifera and M. stenopetala against species of bacteria commonly used in research and teaching laboratories. Aqueous seed extracts from both Moringa species showed broad-spectrum activity but were especially effective at inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive bacteria, including species of Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Bacillus. Moringa leaf extracts also exhibited antibacterial activity, with ethanolic leaf extracts showing greater efficacy than aqueous leaf extracts in disk-diffusion assays. Temporary acidification (1 h at pH 2) of Moringa seed and leaf extracts had a detrimental effect on their antibacterial activity. MIC assays using Moringa leaf extracts also showed more pronounced inhibition of Gram-positive bacteria (MIC = 12.5% v/v) versus Gram-negative species (MIC = 25% v/v). These results are of particular relevance in tropical areas where pharmaceutical drugs are scarce but Moringa is widely available and often used as a nutritional supplement. Moreover, the rising threat of multi-drug resistant pathogens lends greater importance to the study of antibacterial plant products that ultimately may find application in the clinical setting.

Monitoring Indian “Superfood” Moringa oleifera Lam. – species-specific PCR-fingerprint-based authentication for more consumer safety

Moringa oleifera Lam. has become one of the major new superfoods commonly available in the aisles of bio-shops and health-food sections in supermarkets of North America and Europe. While most of these products appear under the generic and scientifically inconclusive term “Moringa”, the European Union, so far, has allowed commercialisation for the use in food and feed for M. oleifera only. M. oleifera is indigenous to India and South Asia, but large-scale cultivation of this species has spread to the tropical regions on all continents, with a strong focus on Africa, leading to a high risk of admixture with species like M. stenopetala (Baker f.) Cufod. that is native to Africa. In the present study, we have characterised six species of Moringa in order to develop a simple and robust authentication method for commercial products. While the plants can be discriminated based on the pinnation of the leaves, this does not work for processed samples. As alternative, we use the plastidic markers psbA-trnH igs and ycf1b to discern different species of Moringa and develop a diagnostic duplex-PCR that clearly differentiates M. oleifera from other Moringa species. This DNA-based diagnostic assay that does not rely on sequencing was validated with commercial products of “Moringa” (including teas, powders, or capsules). Our method provides a robust assay to detect adulterations, which are economically profitable for costly superfood products such as “Moringa”.

Spatial and temporal characterization of the rich fraction of plastid DNA present in the nuclear genome of Moringa oleifera reveals unanticipated complexity in NUPTs´ formation

BackgroundBeyond the massive amounts of DNA and genes transferred from the protoorganelle genome to the nucleus during the endosymbiotic event that gave rise to the plastids, stretches of plastid DNA of varying size are still being copied and relocated to the nuclear genome in a process that is ongoing and does not result in the concomitant shrinking of the plastid genome. As a result, plant nuclear genomes feature small, but variable, fraction of their genomes of plastid origin, the so-called nuclear plastid DNA sequences (NUPTs). However, the mechanisms underlying the origin and fixation of NUPTs are not yet fully elucidated and research on the topic has been mostly focused on a limited number of species and of plastid DNA.ResultsHere, we leveraged a chromosome-scale version of the genome of the orphan crop Moringa oleifera, which features the largest fraction of plastid DNA in any plant nuclear genome known so far, to gain insights into the mechanisms of origin of NUPTs. For this purpose, we examined the chromosomal distribution and arrangement of NUPTs, we explicitly modeled and tested the correlation between their age and size distribution, we characterized their sites of origin at the chloroplast genome and their sites of insertion at the nuclear one, as well as we investigated their arrangement in clusters. We found a bimodal distribution of NUPT relative ages, which implies NUPTs in moringa were formed through two separate events. Furthermore, NUPTs from every event showed markedly distinctive features, suggesting they originated through distinct mechanisms.ConclusionsOur results reveal an unanticipated complexity of the mechanisms at the origin of NUPTs and of the evolutionary forces behind their fixation and highlight moringa species as an exceptional model to assess the impact of plastid DNA in the evolution of the architecture and function of plant nuclear genomes.

An updated review on Phytochemical constituent and pharmacological properties of Moringa oleifera Lam

Moringa oleifera is a widely distributed plant of the Moringaceae family. Nearly, every portion of this tree has extraordinary qualities for food, medicine, or other industrial uses. This study is to gather an overview of global research, pharmacological activity, phytochemical and medicinal updates of M. oleifera, and give insight into its industrial and phytopharmaceutical uses to aid exploration. Moringa species have long been recognized for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and anti-hyperglycaemic properties. Most of their biological action is due to their high presence of flavonoids, glucosides, and glucosinolates. Furthermore, after analyzing the current M. oleifera research, we conclude that the majority of current research focuses on the plant's leaves and seeds, and the most concerned feature of M. oleifera is focused on its therapeutic potential. Yet more research is required to understand the molecular processes underlying its many features.

Modelling habitat suitability for Moringa oleifera and Moringa stenopetala under current and future climate change scenarios

Moringa oleifera Lam and Moringa stenopetala (Baker f.) Cufod are being widely promoted as multipurpose trees across the tropics for their nutritional, medicinal and soil health benefits. Different parts of these species are edible, have therapeutic values and their seeds are used for water purification. Although the two species are similar in many ways, they have contrasting distributions. However, their current promotion is not guided by adequate knowledge of the suitability of the target areas. Information is also scanty on the suitability of habitats for these species under the current and future climate change scenarios. Therefore, the objective of this study was to predict the habitat suitability of M. oleifera and M. stenopetala under current and future climate change scenarios using an ensemble of models assuming four shared socio-economic pathways, namely, SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5 for 2050 and 2070. The results suggest that areas that are highly suitable for M. oleifera will increase by 0.1% and 3.2% under SSP1-2.6 to SSP5-8.5 by 2050, respectively. By 2070, the area suitable for M. oleifera would likely decrease by 5.4 and 10.6% under SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios, respectively. The habitat that is highly suitable for M. stenopetala was predicted to increase by 85–98% under SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios by 2050 and by 2070, while suitable areas could increase by up to 143.6% under SSP5-8.5. The most influential bioclimatic variables for both species were mean diurnal temperature range, mean temperature of driest quarter, precipitation of wettest month, and isothermality. Additionally, soil pH, elevation and water holding capacity were influential variables in the distribution of M. oleifera, while soil pH, soil salinity and slope were influential in M. stenopetala distribution. This study has provided baseline information on the current distribution and possible future habitat suitability, which will be helpful to guide formulation of good policies and practices for promoting Moringa species outside their current range.

REVIEW ON TRADITIONAL AND ADVANCE USE OF MORINGA OLEIFERA AS FOOD AND MEDICINE

The review aimed to highlight the Moringa oleifera plants uses traditional to advance uses of Moringa and how to improve nutritional value in daily edible product. Moringa dried leaves use different recipe and value added food using Moringa leaf. M. oleifera is used to treat a variety of conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, stress, skin, cancer, and many others. They can be consumed fresh or dried. Moringa all part is edible like leaves, fruits, root and bark. From leaves of M. oleifera the product are prepare like chocolate, paneer, biscuit, cake, yogurt, khakhara, chin-chin, muffins. The study shown some interesting information provides a breakdown of the findings regarding the usage of the Moringa species in Nigeria by ethnicity as well as the applications of Moringa oleifera in different food recipe improves their nutritional and functional value.

A Novel Microwave Hot Pressing Machine for Production of Fixed Oils from Different Biopolymeric Structured Tissues.

A microwave hot pressing machine (MHPM) was used to heat the colander to produce fixed oils from each of castor, sunflower, rapeseed, and moringa seed and compared them to those obtained using an ordinary electric hot pressing machine (EHPM). The physical properties, namely the moisture content of seed (MCs), the seed content of fixed oil (Scfo), the yield of the main fixed oil (Ymfo), the yield of recovered fixed oil (Yrfo), extraction loss (EL), six Efficiency of fixed oil extraction (Efoe), specific gravity (SGfo), refractive index (RI) as well as chemical properties, namely iodine number (IN), saponification value (SV), acid value (AV), and the yield of fatty acid (Yfa) of the four oils extracted by the MHPM and EHPM were determined. Chemical constituents of the resultant oil were identified using GC/MS after saponification and methylation processes. The Ymfo and SV obtained using the MHPM were higher than those for the EHPM for all four fixed oils studied. On the other hand, each of the SGfo, RI, IN, AV, and pH of the fixed oils did not alter statistically due to changing the heating tool from electric band heaters into a microwave beam. The qualities of the four fixed oils extracted by the MHPM were very encouraging as a pivot of the industrial fixed oil projects compared to the EHPM. The prominent fatty acid of the castor fixed oil was found to be ricinoleic acid, making up 76.41% and 71.99% contents of oils extracted using the MHPM and EHPM, respectively. In addition, the oleic acid was the prominent fatty acid in each of the fixed oils of sunflower, rapeseed, and moringa species, and its yield by using the MHPM was higher than that for the EHPM. The role of microwave irradiation in facilitating fixed oil extrusion from the biopolymeric structured organelles (lipid bodies) was protruded. Since it was confirmed by the present study that using microwave irradiation is simple, facile, more eco-friendly, cost-effective, retains parent quality of oils, and allows for the warming of bigger machines and spaces, we think it will make an industrial revolution in oil extraction field.

Evaluation of Women’s Contribution in Agroforestry Demonstration through Moringa Species Introduction in Western Oromia, Ethiopia

Agroforestry technologies are very keen practices in most small-scale farming systems where gender issues are not well considered in most developing countries. Moringa is a tropical plant that consists of 13 species, while five of them are found in Ethiopia. This study aimed to evaluate the potential and contribution of women in agroforestry demonstrations where Moringa oleifera and Moringa stenopetala are introduced in farmers’ fields. Selection of the best performing moringa species and preferred by farmers for further scaling up was also another objective. The activity was conducted in five districts of west and east Wallagga zones. A total of 10 FREG comprising 150 farmers were established. The two moringa species were planted on 100 farmers’ fields where 50 women and 50 men were purposively selected and given responsibilities of moringa demonstration. Leaflets and practical training on moringa production, importance and utilization were prepared and given to all concerned bodies. 84% of women and only 32% of men effectively demonstrated the moringa species. A total of 200 farmers were interviewed to evaluate and select the best from the two species depending on their growth performance, fresh leaf taste and odor, and survival rate. Based on the above criteria, 143 (71.5%) farmers preferred Moringa oleifera. In general, the two moringa species were performed well in most places, and its utilization started at household level. Finally, the authors recommend that women are the potential for demonstrating agroforestry technologies, and Moringa oleifera is a more preferred species in western Oromia.

Comparative genomics analysis of endangered wild Egyptian Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) Fiori plastome, with implications for the evolution of Brassicales order.

Moringa is a mono-genus belonging to the Moringaceae family, which includes 13 species. Among them, Moringa peregrina is plant species native to the Arabian Peninsula, Southern Sinai in Egypt, and the Horn of Africa, and comprehensive studies on its nutritional, industrial, and medicinal values have been performed. Herein, we sequenced and analyzed the initial complete chloroplast genome of Moringa peregrina. Concurrently, we analyzed the new chloroplast genome along with 25 chloroplast genomes related to species representing eight families in the Brassicales order. The results indicate that the plastome sequence of M. peregrina consists of 131 genes, with an average GC content of 39.23%. There is a disparity in the IR regions of the 26 species ranging from 25,804 to 31,477 bp. Plastome structural variations generated 20 hotspot regions that could be considered prospective DNA barcode locations in the Brassicales order. Tandem repeats and SSR structures are reported as significant evidence of structural variations among the 26 tested specimens. Furthermore, selective pressure analysis was performed to estimate the substitution rate within the Moringaceae family, which revealing that the ndhA and accD genes are under positive selective pressure. The phylogenetic analysis of the Brassicales order produced an accurate monophyletic annotation cluster of the Moringaceae and Capparaceae species, offering unambiguous identification without overlapping groups between M. oleifera and M. peregrina, which are genetically strongly associated. Divergence time estimation suggests that the two Moringa species recently diversified, 0.467Ma. Our findings highlight the first complete plastome of the Egyptian wild-type of M. peregrina, which can be used for determining plastome phylogenetic relationships and systematic evolution history within studies on the Moringaceae family.

Estimation of essential trace elements in the leaves of some Ocimum and Moringa species plants using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) method

The present research work investigated the comparative elemental analysis of leaves of four groups of ocimum and two groups of moringa trees, namely, Ocimum kilimandcharicum, Ocimum tenuiflorum, ocimum sanctum , Ocimum gratissimum, moringa Oleifera (normal) and Moringa oleifera (hybrid) using one of the most powerful technique, ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy). The results of the present work indicated that seven essential elements, namely, Cu, K, Ca, Na, Mg, Zn and Fe were estimated quantitatively in mg/L and were present in varying concentrations in the selected medicinal plants. The medicinal importance of these elements in the leaves is explained. The results of the present findings support the therapeutic significance of these medicinal plants to minimise diseases caused due to mineral deficiencies.

Effect of irrigation frequency and selenium fertilization on the vegetative growth and biomass yield of Moringa oleifera and Moringa peregrina

To maximize the production value of Moringa species, there is a need to understand the morphological effect of irrigation frequency and Se fertilizer levels on Moringa species' growth and development. Hence, the aim of this trial was to determine the combined effect of irrigation frequency and Selenium (Se) fertilizer levels on the growth of Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) and Moringa peregrina (M. peregrina) in the central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A split-plot arrangement was used, where the treatments were arranged in a Completely Randomized Block Design (CRBD) with three replicates, as the study included two plant species (M. oleifera and M. peregrina), four irrigation frequencies (7, 10, 15, and 20 days), and three Se levels (0.0, 12.5 and 25 mg/L foliar spray). M. peregrina showed slow emergence and plant establishment as compared to M. oleifera. The results indicated that plant height, leaves and stems fresh weight increased with the increase in Se level, and were highest when the two plant species were irrigated every 10 days which surpassed all other irrigation frequencies. The findings of this research study indicated that the two Moringa species, particularly M. oleifera could successfully be grown using drip irrigation at a 10-days irrigation frequency.

Transcriptome profiling of two Moringa species and insights into their antihyperglycemic activity

BackgroundMoringa concanensis Nimmo (MC), a plant that resembles Moringa oleifera Lam. (MO), has less scientific information but has traditionally been used as a medicinal plant. Moringa species have long been known for their medicinal qualities, which include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antihyperglycemic effects. We investigated the antidiabetic potential of MC and MO species in this study by using transcriptome profiling, metabolite analysis, and in vitro assay studies.ResultsOur transcriptome analysis revealed the expression of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of quercetin, chlorogenic acid, and benzylamine, all of which have previously been shown to have antidiabetic activity. We compared the expression patterns of five different tissues from MC and MO and it was found that the key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of these compounds were highly expressed in leaf tissue. The expression estimated by MC transcriptome data in different tissues was verified using RT-qPCR analysis. The amount of these compounds was further quantified in the crude leaf extract of both species and found that MC had a higher abundance of quercetin and chlorogenic acid than MO. The crude leaf extract from both MC and MO were further tested in vitro, and the results demonstrated strong inhibitory activity for α-glucosidase and DPP-IV enzymes. Our findings suggest that compounds in leaf tissue, such as quercetin, benzylamine, and chlorogenic acid, could play a significant role in this antidiabetic activity. In addition, when comparing MO plants, we found that MC had a slightly higher effect in expression, abundance, and inhibitory activity.ConclusionsThis study presents the first report of MC transcriptome data, as well as a comparison of its anti-diabetic activity to MO. Our analysis discussed the significance of leaf tissue in antidiabetic activity compared to other tissues of both species. Overall, this study not only provides transcriptome resources for Moringa species, but also sheds light on antidiabetic potential of both species.

Investigation on the comparative antioxidant potential of Moringa Oleifera and Moringa Stenopetala in their commercial products of leaves

Currently the Moringa Oleifera and Moringa Stenopetala market scenario has been dominated due to consumer preference for herbal medicine and increased health awareness across the globe due to the presence of potential nutritional and therapeutic significant bioactive molecules such as antioxidants. In view of recent consumption trend of Moringa products there is utmost dire need to have comparative scientific data regarding their antioxidant potential and thermal treatment effects before consumption. The present study aligned to analyse the relative antioxidant potential which ultimately provide option to the consumers to select a better product for human consumption. The comparative antioxidant therapeutic potential estimation has been done for Moringa species by DPPH radical assay method using extracts obtained from respective optimized extraction process of maceration and decoction (5, 10, 15 min) with different solvent systems as water, ethanol, and methanol. It has been observed that extract obtained from decoction (10 min) shown the maximum antioxidant activities as their IC50 value for M. Oleifera are 33.16, 31.76, 29.43 (µg/mL) and M. Stenopetala are 40.76, 39.01, 37.44 (µg/mL) in water, ethanol and methanol respectively. The extract obtained by maceration process also has shown least scavenging activity against DPPH. Here, it has been investigated that IC50 value are maximum for methanolic solution for both Moringa species. During the evaluation it has been found that the Moringa Oleifera shown relatively higher antioxidant potential than that of Moringa Stenopetala. which ultimately provided the option to the consumers to select a better Moringa species’s health care product from the market for human consumption.

Structure function of the Cytochrome C and Cytochrome b6f complex genes in Moringa peregrina

Abstract To satisfy the needs of a growing global population, it is vital to develop viable replacement crops. Moringa is a tropical and subtropical plant that grows in multiple regions in the world. The Moringaceae family includes the genus M. peregrina, it has been discovered to have a variety of medical purposes; therefore M. peregrina must be grown in a variety of locations around Egypt. The purpose of this study is to determine the RNA sequences of tow genes and their phylogenetic relationships of 2780 sequence alignments collected from NCBI as well as M. peregrina from 255 genera across the novel gene cyt C, and 1955 sequence alignments as well as M. peregrina from 177 genera accessions numbers in NCBI (MZ005963 and MZ005966, respectively). Furthermore, cyt C (879 bp) whilst, cyt b6f complex (468bp). The present study included the investigation of allele frequency, partial haploid, haploid SNPs, SNPs transitions, and Transversions M. peregrina. The phylogenetic analysis was utilized to evaluate M. peregrina genetic variation and association with other plant species, according to our findings. Using sequence alignment from NCBI as well as Moringa, we were able to identify multiple cytochrome genes according to sequence alignment. The sequence alignment of the cytochrome C and cytochrome b6f complex genes reveals a high level of genetic variety and diversity among Moringa and other species of plants.

Cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and gene expression changes induced by methanolic extract of Moringa stenopetala leaf with LC-qTOF-MS metabolic profile

Moringa stenopetala (Baker f.) Cuf.and other Moringa species have traditionally been used to treat various diseases. The purpose of this study was to determine the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of the methanolic extract of M. stenopetala leaf and its fractions on selected tumor cells. Cytotoxicity was determined by MTT assay. The comet assay was used toassess DNA damage, and gel electrophoresis was used to determine DNA fragmentation. Gene expression was analyzed by qPCR using two specific genes for each cancer cell line. Fractionation of the methanolic extract (E−1) on Diaion HP-20 yielded five fractions (Fr-2 to Fr-6); only Fr-4 and Fr-6 were cytotoxic to breast cancer cells (MCF-7; IC50 = 58.3 ± 0.93 and 35.8 ± 2.44 μg/mL, respectively), human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2; IC50 = 57.8 ± 1.57 and 39.3 ± 1.90 μg/mL, respectively), and Fr-4 was cytotoxic to human colon cancer cells (HCT-116; IC50 = 94.2 ± 4.9 μg/mL). In addition, exposure of the cancer cells to Fr-4 and Fr-6 resulted in a high level of DNA damage. Moreover, relative expression of MTAP and CDKN2A in MCF-7 were increased, whereas expression of p21 and p53 in HCT-116, and APC and TERT in HepG2 were decreased, similar to that of doxorubicin. LC-qTOF-MS was used to identify metabolites in E−1, the majority of which were enriched in Fr-4. Two terpenes (loliolide and dihydroactinidiolide), the majority of the flavonoids, and niazirin were about two fold enriched in Fr-4, whereas the majority of the lipids were 4–10 fold enriched. However, Fr-6 hardly showed compounds other than the two terpenes that were enriched 1.5 and 7 fold. The findings suggest that Fr-4 and Fr-6 are promising sources of compounds possessing cytotoxic and genotoxic properties.

Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Moringa Oleifera Leaves

M. oleifera plant have high nutritional and medicinal values. Different parts of this plant such as flowers, leaves, immature pods and fruit have been found to be very useful and used in many countries as a highly nutritive vegetable. The plant belongs to Moringaceae family that is a monogenetic family and consists of about thirty three species. It is cultivated in many aereas mainly in India, Srilanka, Africa, Pakistan, South America and Mexico in recent time. The importance of Moringa species is gained because of their numerous uses. It is used traditionally to treat inflammation, diarrhea, skin infection, cough, diabetes, headache and fever. The most used part in the plant is leaves as these are enriched with protein, carotenoids, ascorbic acid, antioxidant and phenolic. In this research crude protein, crude fat, total ash and carbohydrates were determined in the dry leaves powder beside mineral content which also was determined. Total polyphenols and flavonoids content of the plant leaves under investigation were estimated spectrophotometry. Phenolic and flavonoid compounds were fractionated using HPLC technique.

Moringa: Natural gift as a miraculous tree

The Moringa species having much more health benefits. It consists of large amount of vitamins, amino acids and minerals. Moringa species contain various phytoconstituents such as alkaloids, saponins, tannins, steroids, phenolic acids, glucosinolates, flavonoids, and terpenes. This review mainly focuses on various species of Moringa along with its pharmacological activity. It also emphasize on the species of Moringa available throughout the world. The species of Moringa having several activities like antiviral, antitrypanosomal, antileishmanial, anticancer, antihyperlipidemic, antihyperglycemic, antimicrobial, antifertility, antispasmodic, antihypertensive and anti inflammatory activity.

Floral and Pollen Traits of Moringa oleifera Lam. and Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) Fiori Provide Reproductive Adaptations for Arid Conditions

Our study attempted to elucidate the significance of floral and pollen traits of the highly nutritious tropical trees Moringa oleifera and Moringa peregrina for their reproductive success under arid conditions. We found that the pollen grains of both species were immersed in a pollenkitt that constituted ~60% of the pollen. Successful pollination was achieved by large bees inserting the pollen into a narrow stylar tube. We found that, upon removal of the pollenkitt, approximately 65% fewer pollen grains penetrated the stylar tube for both species. The pollenkitt protected against heat and desiccation, while removing the pollenkitt resulted in significantly reduced levels of the viability of pollen grains, especially in M. oleifera, and significantly reduced levels of germinability in both species. The stylar tube provided high protection for pollen grains against heat and desiccation even when the pollenkitt was removed. Chemical analysis of pollenkitts of the two species revealed a waxy blend of 21 hydrocarbon compounds, in which n-alkanes constituted >90% of the compounds and their identity corresponded to known plant and animal hydrocarbons, associated with protection against heat and water stress. We concluded that, under arid conditions, the reproductive success of both Moringa species is potentially enhanced by their unique floral and pollen traits. This supports the prospect of cultivating M. oleifera and Moringa peregrina as food crops in arid regions across the globe.

Comparative study on germination, growth and gas exchanges of the tropics’ tree Moringa oleifera and its desert relative Moringa peregrina under saline conditions

Salinity is a major environmental restraint in arid and semi-arid regions. Excessive amounts of salt in natural soils and in saline irrigation reduce seed germination and plant growth of most plants in the agricultural lands of these regions. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of salinity on seed germination, growth performance, and physiological processes; such as chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm), and gas exchange of two Moringa species, Moringa oleifera and Moringa peregrina. Salinity treatments comprised 5 NaCl concentrations; (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM). The germination test took place in petri dishes, while plants were grown in pots under controlled environments inside plant growth chambers. Results showed that seed germination was significantly affected by salinity. The effect of salinity on germination performance differed between the two species. For example, none of the two Moringa seeds germinated at the high level of salinity (200 mM), while M. oleifera seeds germinated at 150 mM and those of M. peregrina showed no signs of germination. Results demonstrated that salinity significantly reduced all growth parameters of the two Moringa species. However, low salinity (50 mM) enhanced all growth parameters and the photosynthetic performance of the two Moringa species compared to the control plants. The chlorophyll content was not affected by salinity for both species, but the saturation rate of photosynthesis was inhibited, and in particular under high NaCl concentration. The effect of salinity on quantum yield followed the same effect pattern as for the saturation rate of photosynthesis, while the (Fv/Fm) was not significantly affected. The two species of Moringa, M. oleifera and M. peregrina differed in the mechanisms of salt tolerance; for example, M. oleifera expressed high salt tolerance at germination phase, whereas M. peregrina demonstrated high photosynthesis rates at low and medium levels of salinity. The physiological responses of M. peregrina to withstand medium levels of salinity makes it a more successful species in harsh environments such as that of Saudi Arabia.