The Impacts of Drying Methods on the Total Flavonoids and Antioxidant Capacity of Moringa Oleifera Leaves

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is a versatile plant that has nutritional, medicinal, and socio-economic values. M. oleifera leaves are rich in minerals, vitamins, and other essential phytochemicals. Washing and drying is an important process in the M. oleifera leave processing industry for food and medicine. This study aims to analyze the impact of the leaves drying methods on their total flavonoid and antioxidant capacity. The four drying methods (oven-drying, room temperature-drying, sun-drying, and roasted-drying) were performed. Total flavonoid of the dried leaves were analyzed by spectrophotometric UV-Vis assays and antioxidant capacity was analyzed by DPPH (2.2-diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazil) radical scavenging activity assay. The result showed that oven drying was the best method resulting in total flavonoids and antioxidant capacity of 12.84 mg quercetine equivalent/g (mgQE/g) and 66% respectively. Otherwise, the roasting-drying method results in the lowest total of flavonoids and antioxidant capacity, probably because of excessively high and unstable temperatures. Heat-sensitive phytochemicals were degraded or bio transformed at high temperatures. Based on this research that the drying method can be affect the level of flavonoid content and antioxidant.