Utilization of Moringa Leaves as Valuable Food Ingredient in Biscuit Preparation Kar Sanjukta*, Mukherjee Atrayee, Ghosh M., Bhattacharyya D.K. School of Community Science and Technology, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal, India *Email: Sanjuktakakhat@yahoo.in
Online published on 18 April, 2014. Abstract This work deals with the studies on the composition of the constituents of Moringa leaves and scope for their utilization as food ingredient. Tests were performed to analyze the potential of Moringa oleifera leaves and scope for its food uses which have been carried out (after drying the collected leaves partially) using some common analytical methods revealing percentages of moisture, ash, protein, fat, carbohydrates and fibre that are 15%, 12.9%, 13.66%, 4.58%, 42.57% and 10.95% respectively whereas antioxidant activities of the methanolic extract (concentration 0.1mg/ml) of moringa in terms of DPPH radical scavenging activity was 65%.The analytical tests on the extract shows absence of gum, steroid, saponin and presence of tannin and flavonoids. Moringa leaf enriched Biscuit was formulated utilizing this natural resource for analyzing the effects of processing on it. The biscuits prepared by using moringa leaf's powder shows percentages of moisture, ash, protein, fat, carbohydrates and fibre that are 5.5%, 2.41%, 11.2%, 15.4%, 63.92% and 1.52% respectively indicating the promising scope for using moringa leaves as a major food ingredient. Top Keywords Moringa leaf, Bioactive compounds, Antioxidant, Moringa leaf enriched Biscuit. Top |