Antonio Martins / Tamires Cruz Santos Silva
Moringa oleifera Lamarck is a plant grown in many tropical countries, which has numerous popular uses due to its nutritional and pharmacological applications. This plant originates from northern India and belongs to the Moringaceae family. It has the characteristic of adapting to nutrient-poor soils and arid climates. Its seeds are of industrial importance as they produce an oil used to lubricate watches and other delicate machinery. It is also used in the manufacture of perfumes and in the chemical treatment of water. An interesting option to analyse the possibility of the seed oil being used in human food is by placing it as the base of one of the most consumed sauces in the world: mayonnaise. In this work, moringa oil was used to produce homemade mayonnaise, as a substitute for conventional oils. Physicochemical analyses of mayonnaise based on moringa oil were carried out, comparing it with mayonnaise based on soybean and sunflower oil, as well as oil characterisation through LR-NMR analysis. Further research is needed on this, which could be a possible new product to be introduced in the market.
