The incredible queen of green: Nutritive value and therapeutic potential of Moringa oleifera Lam

Moringa oleifera Lam. (synonym: Moringa pterygosperma Gaertn.) (M. oleifera) known in 82 countries by 210 different names is well known by the name of the miracle tree. It is one of the extensively cultivated and highly valued members of Moringaceae, a monogeneric family, comprising of thirteen perennial angiosperm shrubs and trees[1-3]. Moringa tree is endemic to the Himalayan foothills of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India, and is cultivated throughout tropics. It is recognized by a mixture of vernacular names, among of them, drumstick tree, horseradish tree, ben oil tree and malunggay are the most commonly reported in the history of this plant[4]. In Pakistan, Sohanjna is the vernacular name of M. oleifera[5,6]. It yields low quality timber, as it is a softwood tree, but it is belived for centuries that this plant possesses a number of industrial, traditional and medicinal benefits[7]. Fertilizer (seed cake), green manure (leaves), blue dye (wood), fencing (living trees), domestic cleaning agent (crushed leaves), alley cropping, animal feed (leaves and seed cake), medicine (all plant parts), foliar nutrient (juice expressed from the leaves), gum (tree trunks), biogas (leaves), biopesticide, ornamental plantings, water purifier (powdered seeds), honey (flower nectar) are different uses of this plant reported in literature[2,6,8-20]. M. oleifera is a good source of aminoacids and contains a number of important minerals, β-carotene, various phenolics and vitamins[21,22]. M. oleifera is also an important vegetable food article of trade, particularly in Pakistan, Hawaii, Philippines, Africa and India which has a huge deliberation as the natural nutrition[1,23]. In South Asia, various plant parts, including leaves, bark, root, gum, flowers, pods, seeds and seed oil are used for the variety of infectious and inflammatory disorders along with hepatorenal, gastrointestinal, hematological and cardiovascular diseases[22,24-26]. Various therapeutic potentials are also credited to different parts of ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT