TREES FOR LIFE – 2011 MORINGA PROJECT

Sophie Oppenheimer, MS, MPH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sophie Oppenheimer will act as Moringa research collaborations coordinator for TFL in several developing Moringa projects. Sophie will coordinate the development of three Moringa projects: (1) the study of the links between Moringa leaves and type II diabetes mitigation, (2) the study of the biosorbent removal of effluents from ground water, (3) the use of bioactive Moringa seed cake extract in goat and goat milk production.

Sophie earned her dual Master’s degrees in Public Health (Epidemiology/Giostatistics) and Food Policy and Applied nutrition from Tufts University, and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Colorado in Bolder. Sophie has worked with Trees for Life International since 2001. She also spent one year as a Behavior Interventionist for Inclusive Education and Community Partnership (IECP), has worked for two years as an intern with the Positive Deviance Initiative, and recently completed a program evaluation for a fuel-efficient cook stoves program in Kenya with the International and Small Group Tree Planting Program (TIST). She is interested in a variety of health issues, with particular focus on international nutrition interventions, food security, community-driven health initiatives , and behavior and social change models.

The work of Trees for Life is made possible by the generosity of individual donors. Please consider making a donation to support this important Moringa research.

Trees for Life – Moringa Update

Research continues to expand the utilization and sustainability of Moringa oleifera as a plant with amazing benefits. Trees for Life reports that in the past month three research publications continue to show the importance and diversity of the plant.   

Biosorption of Ni(II) from aqueous phase by Moringa oleifera bark,  a low cost biosorbent; D. Harikishore Kumar Reddy, D.K. V., et.al., Science Direct .

In the article abstract Moringa oleifera bark (MOB), an agricultural solid waste by-product has been developed into an effective and efficient biosorbent for the removal of Ni(II) from aqua solutions. The biosorbent was characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning election microscopy, elemental analysis and FTIR analyases…. finding of the present study indicates that MOB can be successfully used for separation of Ni(II) aqueous solutions.

Nutritive evaluation and Effect of Moringa oleifera pod on Clastogenic Potential in the Mouse; Promkum C. Kupradinun P, Tuntipopipat S, Butryee C., PubMed.

For centuries Moringa oleifera has been consumed as a vegetable and major ingredient in healthy Thai cuisine. Previous studies have shown that Moringa pod extracts act as bifunctional inducers along with displaying antioxidant properties and also inhibiting skin papillomagenesis. This study was aimed to determine the nutritive value, and clasataogenic and anticlastogenic potentisla of Moringa oleifera pod. The study demonstrated that bMO has no clastogenicity and possesses anticlastogenic potential against clastogens, and particularly a direct-acting  in the mouse.

Foam properties and Detergent Abilities of the Saponins from Camellia oleifera; Yu-Fen Chen , et.al., International Journal of Molecular Science.

The defatted seed meal of Camellia oleifera has been used as a natural detergent and its extract is commercially utilized as a foam-stabilizing emulsifying agent. The goal of this study was to investigate the foam properties and detergent ability of the saponins from defatted seed meal. The results show that the saponins content in the defatted seed meal of C. oleifera is hight than other traditional Chinese medicines.

‘Miracle tree’ may help provide clean water to developing countries – Penn State University

University Park, Pa. — Often called the “miracle tree” for its potential to provide food, fuel and water in harsh environments, the moringa oleifera tree is at the center of a new effort by three Penn State engineers to provide clean drinking water to the developing world.

The work — funded by a year-long, $10,000 Environmental Protection Agency P3 grant — seeks to optimize a water treatment process involving the moringa seed.

“P3 – that’s people, prosperity and planet. It’s for the developing world,” said Stephanie Velegol, instructor in environmental engineering and a co-principal investigator on the grant.

Darrell Velegol, professor of chemical engineering and the grant’s principal investigator, said, “The idea behind our use of the moringa is this: the seeds of the tree contain proteins. One of them is a cationic protein, a positively-charged protein, which contains a little peptide sequence that acts like a molecular knife. So this little molecular knife goes through the bacterial cell wall and kills it, basically slitting it open. We have data showing that for one type of E. coli bacteria, the moringa proteins not only take the bacteria out, but kill the bacteria too.”

To read the complete story: http://live.psu.edu/story/48249