Moringa oleifera L. from the Moringaceae family is a perennial tree widely cultivated in many tropic regions and easily grown even in adverse conditions. M. oleifera is also known as the miracle tree, which for centuries has been indicated for traditional medicine. With no reports of side effects, in doses achievable by ingestion, different parts of M. oleifera is used to treat several conditions, such as malnutrition, diabetes, blindness, anemia, hypertension, stress, depression, skin, arthritis, joints and kidney stones disorders. This plant also showed capacity of helping in maintenance of the cardiovascular system health, blood-glucose levels and providing anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activity as well as the regulation of urinary tract and lactation in nursing women. The seed and leaves powder has water purification properties through flocculation. It also supplements the food in the human diet and in the fortification of livestock feed, especially in developing countries. So, M. oleifera properties have also been applied to cosmetic and byproducts industries due to the high nutritive and protective properties of its seed oil. According to the holistic or traditional medicine, M. oleifera has very relevant therapeutic properties and applications depending on the constitution, somatic and psychological needs of patients. It is usually referred as a natural product that can treat different physical and psychological health aspects, offering an energetic action and structural rebuilder of the body and promoting emotions of highly positive attitudes towards life. The high and specific immunological potential of M. oleifera leads us to suggest an in-depth study to assess the hypothesis of conferring a supportive effect against Covid-19 disease.

RESUMO-O abacaxi é um fruto muito consumido no Brasil. A cadeia produtiva gera grande acúmulo de resíduos, que pode causar danos ao meio ambiente. O bagaço do abacaxi apresenta potencial para obtenção de produtos de valor agregado, pois sua composição apresenta hemicelulose, componente da parede celular vegetal composta principalmente por xilose e arabinose. A hidrólise ácida possibilita a obtenção de açúcares fermentescíveis como substrato para leveduras na produção de xilitol e arabitol. Com isso, a pesquisa teve como objetivo avaliar a hidrólise ácida do bagaço de abacaxi para aplicação em produção biotecnológica de produtos de alto valor. As composições do bagaço do abacaxi antes e após a hidrólise foram, respectivamente, 13,08% e 12,20% de hemicelulose. A análise feita em HPLC constatou que a soma dos teores de xilose, arabinose e frutose foi de 32,30 g.L-1. Os resultados obtidos no presente estudo possibilitaram reavaliar a utilização de partes da matéria-prima, pois o resíduo de abacaxi obtido pelo processamento da polpa e da casca prensada resultou em teor de hemicelulose consideravelmente reduzido, assim como os valores de pentoses no licor.