Infusión de hojas de moringa oleífera (moringa) e hibiscus sabdariffa (flor de jamaica)

Abstract

Moringa oleífera Lam (moringa) is a tropical plant used with medicinal and food purposes. The interest of this plant as a functional food and as a source of nutraceuticals is widely disseminated worldwide, with leaves and seeds being the most widely used due to the content of bioactive compounds. Taking into consideration the benefits that it reports, the objective of the research was to design an infusion combining the leaves of M. oleífera (moringa) with the chalices of H. sabdariffa (Jamaica), taking advantage of the nutrient and bioactive content of these materials vegetable bonuses. To do this, a physical-chemical analysis of crude drugs was performed, obtaining 5.11% residual moisture in M. oleífera and 6.92% for H. sabdariffa. The total ashes were determined in both raw materials, finding 9.46% and 4.92% of inorganic matter. When total ash was treated with 10% HCl, these values were reduced to 3.39% and 1.12% for moringa and jamaica, respectively. The protein content was only determined for moringa, through the Bradford method, being 27.67 mg/100g of dry drug. The analysis of the mineral content determined the presence of the macronutrients N, P, K and Ca, resulting in higher percentages obtained for moringa, in all cases. With regard to quantified micronutrients (Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Na and B), the presence of Fe (114.9 ppm) in moringa stands out, a result referred by other authors for said biomass. The determination of As and Pb in both drugs yielded values lower than 0.005 and 0.09, respectively, in the same way the microbiological analysis was performed; both parameters comply with the limits established to guarantee the consumption of both drugs.