Thirty five growing male goats (6.98±0.86 kg BW) were divided into five equal groups with seven animals in each group. The five dietary treatments were consisted of varying proportions of Moringa foliage (Moringa oleifera) and napier grass (Pennisetum purpurium); T1 (100% Moringa foliage); T2 (75% Moringa foliage+25% napier grass); T3 (50% Moringa foliage+50% napier grass); T4 (25% Moringa foliage+75% napier grass) and T5 (100% napier grass) (control). The experiment was arranged in complete randomized design to evaluate the feed intake, nutrient digestibility and live weight gains of Bengal goats fed napier grass mixed with different levels of Moringa foliage. The dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and ash contents of the diets increased as the proportion of Moringa foliage increased and the reverse was seen for organic matter (OM) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) content. The DM intake was significantly (P<0.01) higher in sole Moringa diet than napier Moringa foliage mixture and sole napier diet. Crude protein intake increased with higher inclusion level of Moringa foliage in the diet. The DM and OM digestibility of goats was significantly (P<0.01) higher in sole Moringa foliage diet than in other experimental diets. The CP digestibility was increased linearly with increasing level of Moringa foliage in the diet. Nitrogen retention was significantly (P<0.01) higher in sole Moringa and Moringa-napier mixture diets than in the sole napier grass diet. The mean daily average live weight gain followed a similar trend as the nitrogen retention which revealed that the nitrogen retention of all treatment groups was above the maintenance level of the animals. It is concluded that Moringa foliage can be replaced in goat diet up to 75% in napier grass based diet.

Purpose: Moringa oleifera is a multi-purpose plant. The growth curve would determine harvest date and maturity indices. Analysis of proximate and mineral constituents would highlight nutritional and health benefits. Research methods: Investigations were conducted on growth curve parameters, maturation indices, proximate and mineral compositions of Moringa plant parts (Moringa oleifera) on four-year-old tress from 2016-2019. Findings: The growth curve depicted a single sigmoid shape. Pods harvested 25 days after flowering were immature (M1), with a light-green skin colour, firm, tender seeds, and light greenish-cream flesh and seeds. Pods attained horticultural maturity with optimum cooking quality 32 days (M2) post-anthesis with corresponding maturity indices being firm, light greenish-cream-flesh and well–formed seed. Dried partially senesced over-matured pods (M3), harvested after 51 days, had a light-brown dermal layer enclosing dark brown firm seeds with the highest fat and crude fiber being 200.3 g/kg and 314.5 g/kg. Green-tender seeds showed the highest crude protein content of 296.0 g/kg. Immature leaves (L1) had the highest dry matter content while stage 2 leaves had the highest ash content. Matured pods showed the highest moisture content. Mineral contents of stage 3 leaves (L3) consisted of magnesium (4255.6ppm) while stage 1 leaves had the most iron (147.0 ppm) and potassium (30210.0ppm). Leaves at stage 2 had the most sodium (2547.9 ppm) and boron (23.1 ppm). Research limitations: Limited cultivars.  Originality/Value: Maturity indices on the growth curve confirmed the multi-purpose nature of the Moringa plant and benefits to the food and health industries.

Introduction The application of herbal plants instead of synthetic drugs is increasing in recent years because of their lower side-effects and high varieties of efficient components. The aim of this study is to investigate some of the Chemical compounds and antinociceptive effects of hydroalcoholic extract of Moringa leaf on male rats. Material and Method In the present experimental study, 36 adult male rats were divided into 6 groups: control group, groups treated with the extract (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg), morphine (1 mg/kg) and naloxone (mg/kg) in combination with 300 mg/kg extract. The analgesic effects of HRC were assessed with writhing, tail-flick and formalin tests. The data were compared and investigated by One-wayANOVA and the Duncan test. Results According to the results, the highest amount of phenolic compounds, flavonoid and antioxidant activity was related to the concentration of 300 mg of extract. Moringa oleifera leaf extract significantly inhibited the number of contractions induced by acetic acid (P<0. 05, P<0. 01 and P<0. 01). Doses of 200 and 300 mg/kg HRC showed antinociceptive activity in the tail flick model (P<0. 01). In formalin test, the highest effect was observed at dose of 300 mg/kg (P<0. 01). CONCLUSION: According to the present results, Moringa oleifera hydroalcoholic extracts have central and peripheral analgesic effects.

The increasing influx of heavy metals into water bodies from industrial, agricultural, and domestic activities is of global concern because of their well documented negative effects on human and ecosystem health. A recent study of streams in Blantyre and Zomba, Malawi revealed lead levels of up 0.118 mg/L, exceeding the World Health Organisation acceptable level of 0.01 mg/L. Our ongoing study on low cost effective heavy metal remediation techniques in developing countries has already demonstrated that Moringa oleifera, the well known source of natural water clarifiers, is effective in heavy metal detoxification of water. This paper presents the first reported use of a related species, the African Moringa, Moringa stenopetala for lead detoxification and preliminary investigation of the interaction of the metal with the polyelectrolytes of M. oleifera and stenopetala. The potential of M stenopetala for lead removal was tested by means of jar tests. With an initial lead concentration of 7 ppm, M stenopetala seed powder, at doses of 0.50, 1.00, 1.50, 2.00 and 2.50 g/100mL, reduced the concentration of lead by 20.00 ± 0.00, 46.19 ± 2.06, 71.19±2.06 and 89.43±0.60 and 96.23± 0.12 % respectively. M stenopetala was more effective than M oleifera in removing lead from water (p=0.001 at 95% confidence level). For oleifera, lead levels decreased exponentially during the first 5 h. of the reaction and then equilibrium was established; for stenopetala, a linear decrease was observed. The pH of the mixture rose from 2.30 to a maximum of 2.53 and 2.57 and then fell to an equilibrium value of 2.30 and 2.29 for oleifera and stenopetala respectively. Lead removal was also affected by pH, ionic strength, and water hardness. Our results show that M stenopetala has potential in lead remediation of contaminated waters. Further studies are being carried out on remediation of other metals and the mechanism of the metal Moringa interaction.

Several species of Moringa, growing in tropic and sub-tropic regions of Iran, are gaining commercial value for their application in medicine, food industry, and, environmental aspects. Seed storage proteins were extracted from two species of the genus named, M. oleifera and M. peregrina. Protein profile of several plant populations of the species was obtained using SDS-PAGE, in which the protein bands were clearly separated. The bands were scored 0 or 1 for absence or presence of the single bands, respectively. The total distances of the present bands of the profile of each genotype from the beginning point on the gel were summed to get the cumulative distances as a characteristic of each profile. Cluster analysis was performed on the data matrix using JMP software. The dendrogram produced by the software was used to classify the studied genotypes. Remarkable differences were observed between the two species based on the protein profiles, suggesting that the technique can be used to classify the populations of the species. Remarkable variation was observed between the studied samples of the indigenous species, M. peregrina. In other words, the results indicated that the technique is feasible to be used to study genetic variation between the populations of the Moringa species, particularly the indigenous species.

Moringa peregrina is a valuable tree with economical and medicinal values as well as environmental importance. Due to several reasons such as seed harvesting, the species lacks enough regeneration in its habitats in the country. There are several restrictions on seedling production of the species for which optimizing seedling production is of great importance. Seed germination and seedling production of two species of Moringa named M. oleifera and M. peregrina were investigated on three different media, MS without sucrose, sterile mixture of pit and vermiculite and normal mixture of pit and vermiculite based on completely randomized design. Characteristics such as main root and hypocotyls length were recorded and analyzed after seed germination and seedling growth. In spite of a long period of seed sowing, the seeds sown in pots and magentas did not germinate enough but sowing the uncoated seeds on MS medium resulted in a good seed germination and seedling growth. In other words, this method may be easily used for old seed reclamation and seedling production on the two species. There were significant differences on early vegetative growth and growth speed of the two species based on the plantlets grown on the MS medium, which are discussed in the text.