Effect of drying condition on physicochemical and antioxidant properties of
dried Moringa leaf powder
Profile of physicochemical and antioxidant activity of dried Moringa leaves from Bangladesh are presented. Moringa is beneficial for health because it has a lot of nutritional and medicinal values. The leaves were collected and washed with distilled water at different temperatures in an oven dryer, and then the fine powder is taken as a sample by grinding and sieving method. This research was done to compare the changes in physicochemical and antioxidant elements at different temperatures (60°C, 70°C and 80°C) and to find the right temperature at which the nutrient loss will be the lowest. This study showed that as the drying temperature changed, so did the nutrient component of Moringa leaves. Physicochemical parameters (moisture, ash, protein, carbohydrate, fat, color) and antioxidant activity (Total phenol content, DPPH free radical scavenging activity, vitamin C, and ß-carotene) were extracted using a variety of methods. The protein content, carbohydrate content was estimated by the Kjeldahl and phenol sulfuric acid method respectively. Total phenol content (38.30 mg/100g), DPPH (77.79%), and ßcarotene (22.71mg/100g) were measured by the spectrophotometric method. And the colorimeter instrument is used for determining the optical properties. It can be seen that the moisture, ash, protein, carbohydrate, Total phenol content, Vitamin C, DPPH free radical scavenging activity, ß-carotene contents decrease significantly with increasing drying temperature, whereas fat content increases. At 60°C drying temperature the nutrient loss was lowest compared to 70°C and 80°C drying temperature, so it can be concluded that 60°C is the most suitable temperature for drying Moringa leaves.