Metabolic Profile, Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, Contractile, and Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Moringa oleifera...

Moringa oleifera is one of the most famous plants used for medicinal purposes. Its leaf extracts have antimicrobial activity and antioxidant activities, and reduce swelling in ulcers.

The present article aimed to determine the metabolic profile of Moringa oleifera leaf extracts from two samples originating from India and to evaluate in vitro and ex vivo their biological activities.

The antioxidant properties of Moringa oleifera leaf extracts (methanol, 50% ethanol, and 70% ethanol) were studied in vitro for antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. The ex vivo contractile effects of the extracts were determined by assaying circularly isolated smooth muscle (SM) strips from a rat's stomach.

The obtained results indicated that one of the samples had amino acid and organic acid content approximately twice that of the second sample. In all the tests, the 50% ethanol extract of both samples showed better antioxidant activity (209 mM TE 100 g^-1 for the DPPH method). The 70% ethanolic extract of Sample 1 exhibited the strongest antimicrobial activity, inhibiting Gram-positive Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus. The 50% ethanolic extract of both samples exhibited the highest anti-inflammatory activity, demonstrating a twice better effect than the reference drug diclofenac. Finally, the pre-incubation of SM preparations with both samples significantly enhanced the ACh-induced contractile response, increasing it by 134% and 111%, respectively.

The findings suggested potential applications of Moringa oleifera as a suitable candidate for antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antispasmodic supplementation for alternative pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products.