Nutritional characterisation of Zambian Moringa oleifera: acceptability and safety of short-term daily supplementation in a group of malnourished girls

Abstract

In Zambia, chronic malnutrition still is one of the most common problem among children. To fight against malnutrition, the easiest short-term solution could be to combine specific types of food with affordable local plants. A large variety of natural food resources grow in Zambia, such as Moringa oleifera (MO), whose leaves are known for their health benefits, but are not consumed much by local populations. We analysed Zambian MO powder obtained from dried leaves and found that it contains large amounts of protein, minerals and vitamins, such as iron, calcium and carotenoids. These characteristics make MO a good and sustainable complementary solution to malnutrition. We also evaluated the acceptability and the safety of dietary supplementation with MO powder in malnourished children for 30 days. A daily dose of 14 g daily was safe and well accepted. Its regular use in the menu of local populations may be viable proposition.

Keywords:

• Moringa oleifera
• Zambia
• malnutrition
• nutritional facts
• oral supplementation
• body composition

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the Akern srl for the provision of BIA analyser; the International Center for the Assessment of Nutritional Status (ICANS; University of Milan) for laboratory tests; Mudzi Wa Moyo and Orphanage and Sister Erminia for active cooperation; Jennifer S. Hartwig, MD for assistance in editing the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

We wish to thank the “Brain and Malnutrition in Chronic Diseases Association” and the "Fondazioni Grigioni per il Morbo di Parkinson" for financial support.