Moringa : The Promising plant for Diabetes

Hailemeskel Mekonnen, PhD Fellow (CDT-Africa/AAU); Prof Eyasu Makonnen(PhD); Dr. Workineh Shibeshi (PhD)

Natural products have received considerable attention for the management of diabetes and its complications. Ethiopia is endowed with great biodiversity and the population has access to potentially many plant species with both nutritional and medicinal benefits. Moringa stenopetala is one of the most valuable and multi-purpose plants. M stenopetala (Baker f) Cufodontis belongs to family Moringaceae is commonly grown in Southern parts of Ethiopia known by different vernacular names. The leaves of M stenopetala are cooked and eaten as vegetables and the leaves and roots are used traditionally to treat number of ailments including diabetes among others.  A project that will enable to jointly work on Moringa value chain development as a means of improving the nutrition status and economic empowerment of rural communities in Ethiopia has already been launched.

Phytochemical screening tests on the crude aqueous leaf extracts and butanol fraction of M. stenopetala detect the presence of various secondary metabolites. The most active component, Rutin, a common dietary flavonoid has caught scientific attention as a potential therapeutic agent in experimental diabetes primarily because it is effective in reducing glycemia and hyperlipidemia in rodent models.The objective of this review was to review the evidences for the use of M. stenopetala for the treatment of diabetes and its effect on various organs and tissues as well as on histo-biochemical parameters. To this effect more than 100 publications retrieved with the search term “Moringa and its organ effects`` from the MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Registry, and searches of reference lists in 2017/18. The crude aqueous and butanol extract moreover, chronic administration of the n-butanol fraction of ethanol extract of M stenopetala leaves in alloxan-induced diabetic mice showed anti-hyperglycemic and antihyperlipedimic effects with wide margins of safety, indicating its potential for long term management of diabetes. As there are several evidences for the plants` antidiabetric effect on animal studies, we planned and proposed to do clinical trial as part of drug innovation project of CDT-Africa.