MORINGA OLEIFERA FLOUR PROTEIN FRACTIONS AS FOOD INGREDIENTS WITH ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES

Moringa oleifera meal proteins were extracted by using salt, water and alkaline precipitation to obtain globulins (GLO), albumins (ALB), and iso-electric precipitated (ISO) isolates. All the samples were tested for antioxidant properties using 2, 2diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (HRSA), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and inhibition of metal ion chelation assays. The amino acid compositions of the samples, though fairly comparable, the albumin fraction in particular showed considerable inhibitory potentials against the DPPH (53.02%) and hydroxyl radical (44.21%). None of the samples however had any significant metal chelating ability since the only sample (globulin) with activity had less than 5% metal chelation activity. With the results obtained in the study, it was concluded that the albumin and the flour possess some level of inhibitory potentials against free radicals which could present them as useful antioxidant