Week 4: Activity#3

Health Benefits of Uses and Applications of Moringa oleifera in Bakery Products

by Paula García Milla, Rocío Peñalver, and Gema Nieto

Abstract

Moringa oleifera belongs to the Moringaceae family and is the best known of the native Moringa oleifera genus. For centuries, it has been used as a system of Ayurvedic and Unani medicine and has a wide range of nutritional and bioactive compounds, including proteins, essential amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, fibre, vitamins, minerals, phenolic compounds, phytosterols and others. These characteristics allow it to have pharmacological properties, including anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antioxidant, cardioprotective, antimicrobial and hepatoprotective properties. The entire Moringa oleifera plant is edible, including its flowers, however, it is not entirely safe, because of compounds that have been found mainly in the root and bark, so the leaf was identified as the safest. Moringa oleifera is recognised as an excellent source of phytochemicals, with potential applications in functional and medicinal food preparations due to its nutritional and medicinal properties; many authors have experimented with incorporating it mainly in biscuits, cakes, brownies, meats, juices and sandwiches. The results are fascinating, as the products increase their nutritional value; however, the concentrations cannot be high, as this affects the organoleptic characteristics of the supplemented products. The aim of this study is to review the application of Moringa oleifera in bakery products, which will allow the creation of new products that improve their nutritional and functional value.Moringa oleifera belongs to the Moringaceae family and is the best known of the native Moringa oleifera genus. For centuries, it has been used as a system of Ayurvedic and Unani medicine and has a wide range of nutritional and bioactive compounds, including proteins, essential amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, fibre, vitamins, minerals, phenolic compounds, phytosterols and others. These characteristics allow it to have pharmacological properties, including anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antioxidant, cardioprotective, antimicrobial and hepatoprotective properties. The entire Moringa oleifera plant is edible, including its flowers, however, it is not entirely safe, because of compounds that have been found mainly in the root and bark, so the leaf was identified as the safest. Moringa oleifera is recognised as an excellent source of phytochemicals, with potential applications in functional and medicinal food preparations due to its nutritional and medicinal properties; many authors have experimented with incorporating it mainly in biscuits, cakes, brownies, meats, juices and sandwiches. The results are fascinating, as the products increase their nutritional value; however, the concentrations cannot be high, as this affects the organoleptic characteristics of the supplemented products. The aim of this study is to review the application of Moringa oleifera in bakery products, which will allow the creation of new products that improve their nutritional and functional value.

Keywords: Moringa, natural preservatives, bakery products, functional food 

Clip an article from a magazine, journal, or newspaper that is related to your strand or specialization. Evaluate its language use by answering the following:

Guide Questions	Yes or No	Evidence/ Justification
Is the article appropriately formal?	Yes	Since this is a research article, the language that will be used must be formal
Are there jargons?	Yes	The article used uncommon words such as “Moringa oleifera,” “Moringaceae,” “Ayurvedic and Unani medicine,” “phenolic compounds,” “phytosterols,” “hepatoprotective properties,” “phytochemicals,” “organoleptic characteristics”
Are there idiomatic expressions?	No	Aside from having a formal language, idioms are unrelated and unnecessary since this is a research article.
Are there euphemism and other deceitful words?	No	Euphemism is unnecessary since the topic is not harsh or unpleasant. Also, a research article does not use deceitful words since it must be straightforward.
Is there any bias in language use?	No	A research must also use unbiased or gender-neutral language.
Are there ideas presented in the text concrete and specific?	Yes	Since a research article must be straightforward, it is must also be concrete and specific. The are also no unnecessary ideas present since each one is connected to the topic.
Is the article concise?	Yes	A research article must also be concise. With this, the sample article is brief yet comprehensive. It also used transitional devices and phrases such as “and,” “For centuries,” “including,” “because,” “due to,” and “however.”
Are the ideas presented precisely and clearly?	Yes	Aside from the jargons, the words used in the article are simple and easily understood. Once you have a brief background about the topic, you can also easily understand the ideas presented in the article. Even though it did not use transitional sentences, the structure of the sentences and the relativity of the ideas alone are sufficient in order to clearly comprehend the thought of the article.

Is there any suggestion you can give to improve the language use in your chosen article?

Generally, research article must be written concisely, precisely, and clearly. It must also go through a lot of revisions before it can be published. Moreover, this research article is published in a well-known source so it is expected that it had even more revisions than usual. With this, I do not have any suggestions left to improve its language use. However, research articles usually use jargons related to the topic. Therefore, it is handy to have a resource material or the internet to look up the meaning of some uncommon words.