The content of bioactive compounds in Moringa oleifera and Moringa stenopetala species grown in Ethiopia

Oil and seed samples of Moringa stenopetala, deciduous African tree used mostly for water purification, and Moringa oleifera, more studied specie found mainly in Asia and widely used in cosmetics, were gathered in the same locality: Kurpayo river basin, Ethiopia.The content of vitamin E isomers, the ratio of fatty acids and selected mycotoxins were determined in mor-inga oil and, for the first time, also directly in seeds. The highest vitamin E activity was found in M. stenope-tala oil samples (118.44 mg/kg). Total vitamin E activity of M. oleifera was 78.71 mg/kg and 62.08 mg/kg (oil and seeds, respectively). The most abundant isomer found in M. oleifera and M. stenopetala oil was a-tocoph-erol (75.71 mg/kg and 115.60 mg/kg, respectively). b-tocopherol, always reported to be below the limit of detection in previous studies, was detected in both oil and seed samples and found to be the second most abundant isomer in M. stenopetala samples. Highest amount of fatty acids contained in M. oleifera and M. stenopetala species was observed for oleic acid (72.44-77.07%), palmitic acid (7.00-9.32%) and stearic acid (6.58-9.07%).Samples were also monitored for the presence of selected mycotoxins (aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and T-2 and HT-2 toxins), as common contaminants of food commodities originating from tropical countries. Their con-tent was below the limits of quantification, except for T-2 toxin (7.6 mg/kg) and > HT-2 toxin (15.1 mg/kg) in Moringa oleifera seeds. It was proved that appropriate conditions kept at the time of harvest and especially during transport and storage are able to prevent the contamination of moringa seeds by mycotoxin pro-ducers.(c) 2023 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.