Nutraceutical or Pharmacological Potential of Moringa oleifera Lam.
1
Tianjiu Research and Development Center for Exercise Nutrition and Foods, Hubei Key Laboratory of Exercise Training and Monitoring, College of Health Science, Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan 430079, China
2
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
3
Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
4
Department of Pharmacology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2018, 10(3), 343; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10030343
Received: 8 February 2018 / Revised: 3 March 2018 / Accepted: 7 March 2018 / Published: 12 March 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Food, Nutrition and Human Health)
Moringa oleifera Lam. (M. oleifera), which belongs to the Moringaceae family, is a perennial deciduous tropical tree, and native to the south of the Himalayan Mountains in northern India. M. oleifera is rich in proteins, vitamin A, minerals, essential amino acids, antioxidants, and flavonoids, as well as isothiocyanates. The extracts from M. oleifera exhibit multiple nutraceutical or pharmacological functions including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, hypoglycemic, and blood lipid-reducing functions. The beneficial functions of M. oleifera are strongly associated with its phytochemicals such as flavonoids or isothiocyanates with bioactivity. In this review, we summarize the research progress related to the bioactivity and pharmacological mechanisms of M. oleifera in the prevention and treatment of a series of chronic diseases—including inflammatory diseases, neuro-dysfunctional diseases, diabetes, and cancers—which will provide a reference for its potential application in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases or health promotion.