Augmenting phyto-chemical and phyto-mineral profiling of moringa leaf extract: A contrastive study of solid-liquid extraction methodologies

The global food system is plagued by legitimacy and stability issues due to climate and ecosystem disruptions, contributing to widespread malnutrition. A significant portion of the global population experiences undernourishment, overweight, and micronutrient deficiencies from unhealthy diets. Addressing these challenges necessitates regular consumption of essential nutrients from plant sources. Among various crops, <i>Moringa oleifera</i> leaves are highly nutritious, offering essential vitamins, minerals, and medicinal properties. Whence research was conducted to inquire the proximate phytochemical composition and extraction efficiency of moringa leaf extracts across four extraction methods: maceration (E₁), Soxhlet (E₂), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) (E₃), and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) (E₄) using 70 % hydro-ethanolic solvent. The study detected the presence of phytocompounds and phytonutrients at higher levels in UAE and MAE extracts. Recovery yield was highest for UAE (21.81 ± 0.32 %) than conventional extraction methods (6.24 ± 0.08 %). Both advanced extraction methods resulted in higher TPC (148.86 ± 1.92 mg GAE/g and 137.65 ± 4.49 mg GAE/g, respectively) and TFC (23.18 ± 0.44 mgQE/g and 22.12 ± 0.61 mg QE/g, respectively). Protein and ascorbic acid contents followed a similar trend, with UAE achieving 148.66 ± 3.74 mg/ml and 620.25 ± 1.42 mg/100g, respectively. Antioxidant activity measured by DPPH assay was highest in UAE (86.25 ± 1.58 %) along with the lowest IC₅₀ values (11.62 ± 1.58 μg/ml) in UAE. Furthermore, ICP-OES analysis revealed higher concentrations of essential phyto-minerals in moringa leaf extracts. Moreover, SEM analysis revealed significant morphological disruptions in the leaf samples, correlating with higher phytomolecules recovery. The outcome of the research is that novel extraction methods significantly enhanced the extraction efficiency and quality of bioactive compounds from moringa leaves, suggesting their potential in the development of nutraceutical and biofortified food products to expunge malnutrition.