Wild and domesticated Moringa oleifera differ in taste, glucosinolate composition, and antioxidant potential, but not myrosinase activity or protein content

Abstract

Taste drives consumption of foods. The tropical tree Moringa oleifera is grown worldwide as a protein-rich leafy vegetable and for the medicinal value of its phytochemicals, in particular its glucosinolates, which can lead to a pronounced harsh taste. All studies to date have examined only cultivated, domestic variants, meaning that potentially useful variation in wild type plants has been overlooked. We examine whether domesticated and wild type M. oleifera differ in myrosinase or glucosinolate levels, and whether these different levels impact taste in ways that could affect consumption. We assessed taste and measured levels of protein, glucosinolate, myrosinase content, and direct antioxidant activity of the leaves of 36 M. oleifera accessions grown in a common garden. Taste tests readily highlighted differences between wild type and domesticated M. oleifera. There were differences in direct antioxidant potential, but not in myrosinase activity or protein quantity. However, these two populations were readily separated based solely upon their proportions of the two predominant glucosinolates (glucomoringin and glucosoonjnain). This study demonstrates substantial variation in glucosinolate composition within M. oleifera. The domestication of M. oleifera appears to have involved increases in levels of glucomoringin and substantial reduction of glucosoonjnain, with marked changes in taste.

Correction to: Moringa oleifera leaf extracts attenuate Complete Freund’s adjuvant-induced arthritis in Wistar rats via modulation of inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers

“…It has recently been shown that putative wild type Moringa oleifera differs markedly in its phytochemistry from domestic Moringa oleifera Fahey et al 2018). The two entities differ markedly in the ways that they are used, with domestic M. oleifera eaten frequently, especially in southern India, and the putative wild type being used chiefly medicinally (Olson 2017;Chodur et al 2018). Most studies of the applied properties of Moringa are carried out on the domestic variant of Moringa oleifera, meaning that the other species are very poorly studied.…”

Effect of Moringa oleifera Leaf Powder on Postprandial Blood Glucose Response: In Vivo Study on Saharawi People Living in Refugee Camps

“…With the same HPLC method that we used, and considering the sum of the two main peaks of principal glucosinolates, Chodur at al. [ 32 ] obtained two extremely different glucosinolates values for samples from Kenya (1.16 mg/g) and Mexico (109 mg/g).…”

Glucosinolates: Natural Occurrence, Biosynthesis, Accessibility, Isolation, Structures, and Biological Activities

“…Breeding approaches are often employed to obtain crops with low GSL content for food or feed purposes [ 26 , 27 , 28 ], while those with high GSL content remain of interest for non-food applications. Therefore, the choice of species should be carefully considered with regard to the downstream purposes of raw materials.…”