Utilization of Moringa Leaves as Valuable Food Ingredient in Biscuit Preparation Sanjukta Kar, Atrayee Mukherjee, M.Ghosh and D.K.Bhattacharyya School of Community Science and Technology, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal, India Email: Sanjuktakakhat@yahoo.in Abstract This work deals with the studies on the composition of the constituents of Moringa leaves and scope for their utilization as food ingredient. Tests were performed to analyze the potential of Moringa oleifera leaves and scope for its food uses which have been carried out (after drying the collected leaves partially) using some common analytical methods revealing percentages of moisture, ash, protein, fat, carbohydrates and fibre that are 15%, 12.9 %, 13.66%, 4.58%, 42.57% and 10.95% respectively whereas antioxidant activities of the methanolic extract (concentration 0.1mg /ml) of moringa in terms of DPPH radical scavenging activity was 65% .The analytical tests on the extract shows absence of gum, steroid, saponin and presence of tannin and flavonoids. Moringa leaf enriched Biscuit was formulated utilizing this natural resource for analyzing the effects of processing on it. The biscuits prepared by using moringa leaf’s powder shows percentages of moisture, ash, protein, fat, carbohydrates and fibre that are 5.5%, 2.41%, 11.2%, 15.4%, 63.92% and 1.52 % respectively indicating the promising scope for using moringa leaves as a major food ingredient. ©2013 New Delhi Publishers. All rights reserved Keywords: Moringa leaf, Bioactive compounds, Antioxidant, Moringa leaf enriched Biscuit Introduction Moringa oleifera (drumstick tree), also known as ‘mother’s best friend’ and commonly known as sajina or moonga, is considered as the miracle tree due to its marvelous nutritional and medicinal values from ancient time. India is the largest producer of moringa. Every part of the drumstick tree is enriched with varieties of ingredients that contribute to its magical health benefits. Moringa leaves are round shaped with wild leafy flavour and slight bitter taste. They are the significant source of calcium, iron, vitamin C, fibre, protein and β–carotene. Due to its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory action it can be used as a treating agent for diarrhoea, urinary disorder and gastric ulcer. Moringa leaves can successfully purify blood along with lowering of blood glucose and cholesterol level (Ramachandran C et al.,1980). Moringa, along with antioxidant properties, shows high protein content with all the essential amino acids and micronutrient composition indicating its potential to be used as food ( Foid N. et al.,2001). Moringa leaves apart from International Journal of Applied Sciences & Engineering (IJASE) 1(1): April, 2013 2013 29-37