plants Review Health Benefits of Uses and Applications of Moringa oleifera in Bakery Products Paula García Milla 1,2, Rocío Peñalver 1 and Gema Nieto 1,* 1 Department of Food Technology, Nutrition and Food Science, Veterinary Faculty, University of Murcia, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Espinardo, Spain; [email protected] (P.G.M.); [email protected] (R.P.) 2 Molecular Microbiology and Food Research Laboratory, Escuela de Nutrición y Dietética, Facultad de Ciencias para el cuidado de la Salud, Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago 8420524, Chile * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +34-868889624; Fax: +34-868884147 Abstract: Moringa oleifera belongs to the Moringaceae family and is the best known of the native Moringa oleifera genus. For centuries, it has been used as a system of Ayurvedic and Unani medicine and has a wide range of nutritional and bioactive compounds, including proteins, essential amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, fibre, vitamins, minerals, phenolic compounds, phytosterols and others. These characteristics allow it to have pharmacological properties, including anti-diabetic, anti- inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antioxidant, cardioprotective, antimicrobial and hepatoprotective properties. The entire Moringa oleifera plant is edible, including its flowers, however, it is not entirely safe, because of compounds that have been found mainly in the root and bark, so the leaf was identified as the safest. Moringa oleifera is recognised as an excellent source of phytochemicals, with potential applications in functional and medicinal food preparations due to its nutritional and medicinal properties; many authors have experimented with incorporating it mainly in biscuits, cakes, brownies, meats, juices and sandwiches. The results are fascinating, as the products increase Citation: Milla, P.G.; Peñalver, R.; their nutritional value; however, the concentrations cannot be high, as this affects the organoleptic Nieto, G. Health Benefits of Uses and characteristics of the supplemented products. The aim of this study is to review the application of Applications of Moringa oleifera in Moringa oleifera in bakery products, which will allow the creation of new products that improve their Bakery Products. Plants 2021, 10, 318. nutritional and functional value. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10020 318 Keywords: Moringa; natural preservatives; bakery products; functional food Academic Editor: Domenico Trombetta Received: 27 December 2020 1. Introduction Accepted: 3 February 2021 Published: 6 February 2021 Moringa oleifera is a genus of the fast-growing tropical deciduous plant of the Moringaceae family, with thick, tuberous roots, light green leaves and abundant flowering with elongated, Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral pendulous fruits and seeds [1]. It is a native crop of northern India, although it is found in with regard to jurisdictional claims in southwest Asia, southwest and northwest Africa and Madagascar. It has long been a part of published maps and institutional affil- traditional horticulture, used mainly for ornamental purposes in cities along the Pacific coast iations. of Mexico [2], as well as plantations in Bolivia, Argentina and elsewhere in the world [3]. It has 13 known species, with Moringa oleifera, native to India, being one of the most studied and used for its nutritional, phytochemical and pharmacological properties. According to ayurvedic medicine (traditional and alternative medicine of India) [4], it is attributed properties for the treatment of some diseases, such as asthma, epilepsy, eye and skin diseases, fever and Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. haemorrhoids [5–7]. In fact, it is a medicinal plant traditionally known in the approach to This article is an open access article malnutrition and other diseases [8]. distributed under the terms and It can withstand long periods of drought, growing well in arid and semi-arid areas. conditions of the Creative Commons According to researchers, it tolerates soils with a pH between 4.5 and 8, although neutral or Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// slightly acidic pH is more favourable [9]; it is a very adaptable species, lives about 20 years creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ and reaches a height of 5 to 10 m in a short period of time, reaching 4 m in 6 months [10]. It 4.0/). is considered a very versatile plant due to its great capacity to provide edible food, which Plants 2021, 10, 318. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10020318 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/plants Plants 2021, 10, 318 2 of 16 Plants 2021, 10, 318 2 of 17 years and reaches a height of 5 to 10 m in a short period of time, reaching 4 m in 6 months [10]. It is considered a very versatile plant due to its great capacity to provide edible food, includeswhich includes different different vegetative vegetative structures, structures such as, such leaves, as leaves, pod shells, pod shells, stem, stem, flowers, flowers, fruits andfruits seeds. and Theseseeds. structuresThese structures contain contain bioactive bioactive compounds compounds and nutrients and nutrients (Figure 1(Figure), such 1), as phenolicsuch as compounds,phenolic compounds, fatty acids, fatty carbohydrates, acids, carbohydrates, fibre, minerals, fibre, vitaminsminerals, andvitamins functional and peptidesfunctional with peptides a wide with potential a wide to potential be used into food.be used in food. Figure 1. Composition in bioactive compounds of vegetative structures of Moringa oleifera plant. Figure 1. Composition in bioactive compounds of vegetative structures of Moringa oleifera plant. However, not all of the plant is probably safe, as toxic compounds have been found [11]. On theHowever, other hand, not itsall usesof the are plant varied, is probably as the seed safe, is as used toxic to compounds purify water have and been the oil found from the[11]. seeds On the can other be used hand, as a its fertiliser uses are [6 varied,]. Considering as the seed that is previous used to purify studies water have shownand the that oil bioactivefrom the compoundsseeds can be from used herbs as a andfertiliser plants [6]. could Considering be used forthat functional previous foodstudies product have innovationshown that [ bioactive11–14]. Moringa compounds oleifera fromplants herbs could and plants be used could for be functional used for functional food and otherfood industrialproduct innovation food applications [11–14]. [ 15Moringa]. Therefore, oleiferaMoringa plants could oleifera beprovides used for nutrientsfunctional that food benefit and health,other industrial making it food a key applications food for food [15]. security Therefore, in areas Moringa with feweroleifera economic provides resourcesnutrients that [16], thisbenefit review health, summarises making it recent a key knowledge food for food on bioactivesecurity in compounds areas with fromfewerMoringa economic oleifera re- plantssources and [16], their this potential review summarises use in the formulationrecent knowledge of food on products,bioactive compounds especially bakery from products.Moringa oleifera The objective plants and of thistheir review potential is touse know in the the formulation uses and applicationsof food products, of Moringa espe- oleiferacially bakeryin bakery products. products, The in objective order to knowof this what review the is quantity to know or the concentration uses and applications of Moringa oleiferaof Moringais that oleifera allows in maintaining bakery products, the sensory in order characteristics to know what of the the quantity product. or concentra- tion of Moringa oleifera is that allows maintaining the sensory characteristics of the prod- 2.uct. Botanical and Taxonomic Characteristics Moringa oleifera belongs to the Moringaceae family, order Capparidales, class Mag- noleopsida.2. Botanical It and is the Taxonomic best known Characteristics of the genus Moringa oleifera, which has 13 species [17]. It is identifiedMoringa by oleifera its fruit belongs in the form to ofthe a long,Moringaceae woody pod, family, which, order when Capparidales, ripe, opens into class two leaflets,Magnoleopsida. where it contains It is the thebest trivalent known seedsof the with genus longitudinal Moringa oleifera wings., which Its pinnate has 13 leaves species are divided[17]. It is into identified leaflets by arranged its fruit on in athe rachis form [18 of]. a The long, flowers woody are pod, grouped which, in when axillary ripe, panicles, opens areinto bisexual, two leaflets, zygomorphic where it contains with five the unequal trivalent white seeds petals,with longitudinal five sepals, wings. five stamens Its pinnate and severalleaves are staminodes; divided into they leaflets have pedicelsarranged and on auxiliarya rachis [18]. inflorescences. The flowers Theare grouped plant has in erect ax- stemsillary andpanicles, tuberous are bisexual, roots [2,19 zygomorphic]. It is a tree thatwith can five reach unequal 7–12 white m in heightpetals, andfive 20–40sepals, cm five in diameter,stamens withand several an open staminodes; crown and straightthey have stem pedicels [20]. and auxiliary inflorescences. The plant has erect stems and tuberous roots [2,19]. It is a tree that can reach 7–12 m in height 3.and Ethnopharmacological 20–40 cm in diameter, Uses with of anMoringa open crown oleifera and straight stem [20]. Moringa oleifera has been used as a medicine in India since the 18th century BC. Traditional3. Ethnopharmacological healers used different Uses