Can Moringa oleifera Seeds be Used as Food?

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree of the family Moringaceae, native to the Indian subcontinent and used extensively in South and Southeast Asia. They do, however, have some problems with seed bitterness, which is the most difficult obstacle to consumer acceptability. A variety of processing techniques were tried to create meals from MO seeds, including: (i) roasted MO seeds; (ii) beverages made from MO; and (iii) yoghurt-like products that underwent chemical and rheological analysis. From 3.68% in the beverage to 14.73% in the yoghurt and 40.21% in the toasted MO nuts, the protein concentration varied.  Toasting the seeds seemed to be a good option and nutrition claims for minerals in toasted seeds could be considered for Mg, P, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn, which confirms the M. oleifera seed richness in several minerals. The MO yoghurt-like product showed a very nice flavor and a gel structure similar to the dairy yoghurt, making it a promising new plant-based alternative. Further work must be performed in the future to debitter more efficiently the raw seeds to achieve a more pleasing MO-based beverage.