The antimicrobial properties of Moringa oleifera Lam. for water treatment: a systematic review

Abstract

Plant extracts have been used as alternatives to the conventional chemical water treatment. Moringa oleifera Lam. is one of the plants used for this purpose due to its antimicrobial and coagulant properties. However, there is no systematization of Moringa's application methodology. Different parts of the plant, extraction methods and concentrations can be applied to remove several pathogens present in contaminated drinking water. In the present work, reported Moringa applications with antimicrobial effect were systematically reviewed, in order to identify effective methodology(ies) for water treatment. Forty-nine articles were screened for: (1) part of the plant used, (2) extraction method, (3) extract concentration, (4) targeted pathogens, and (5) inhibition zone obtained. Nine articles complied with these criteria and were carefully analyzed; eight of them reported on leaf extracts and only one on seed extracts. Two approaches were used: analysis by pathogen and overall analysis. A total of eight different extraction methods were reported. Extract concentrations used ranged from 0.02 to 800 mg mL −1 and were tested on twenty pathogens. Our analysis revealed that none of such methods is effective against all the tested pathogens. However, leaf extracts obtained with distilled water or with 95% ethanol were the most effective ones for a higher number of pathogens such as Escherichia coli and, possibly, Vibrio cholerae. Moreover, Moringa's extract concentration of 30 mg mL −1 obtained by the 95% ethanol extraction method was the most efficient. Findings suggest an effective procedure to use Moringa, reinforcing its importance as an environmentally friendly alternative for water treatment in areas lacking a water supply system.

Purification and Characterization of a Novel Thermostable Papain Inhibitor from Moringa oleifera with Antimicrobial and Anticoagulant Properties

“…The antimicrobial activity of the crude extract (MoCE) and heat-treated sample (MoHT15) were evaluated in order to establish whether the powerful papain inhibitor from M. oleifera is able to inhibit bacterial growth. As observed in Table 5, our results confirmed the findings from Bancessi and colleagues [3] that reported a strong antimicrobial activity of Moringa seed extracts against E. coli, E. faecalis, S. aureaus, E. cloacae, Proteus, K. pneumoniae. More interestingly, the heat-treated sample showed a strong inhibitory effect against the growth of E. faecalis and S. aureaus.…”

“…Recent studies have shown that extracts of this plant possess strong antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic properties [2]. Furthermore, evidence suggests that almost all parts of the plant exhibit antibacterial activity [3]. In many cases, such antibacterial activity has been associated with the presence of small chemical compounds such as glucosinolates (β-thioglucoside N-hydroxysulfates), isothiocyanates, organic carbamates, chalcone-oxazolidinone hybrids and thiocarbamate [4].…”

Antimicrobial effect of Moringa oleifera seed powder against Vibrio cholerae isolated from the rearing water of shrimp ( Penaeus vannamei ) postlarvae

“…2018; Bancessi et al . 2020). This could explain why there are no standard procedures for the use of M. oleifera in water treatment, despite its widely reported antimicrobial properties (Bancessi et al .…”

“…This could explain why there are no standard procedures for the use of M. oleifera in water treatment, despite its widely reported antimicrobial properties (Bancessi et al . 2020). An important result from this study is that a low concentration of M. oleifera was required to reduce the V. cholerae load in the rearing water of shrimp.…”

“…oleifera have been widely recognized as having antimicrobial properties (Bancessi et al . 2020). Aqueous and ethanol extracts of M. oleifera have demonstrated in vitro antimicrobial activity against several important disease‐causing bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli , V. cholerae and V. parahaemolyticus isolated from white shrimp cultures (Viera et al .…”