  Citation: Minh, T.N.; Minh, B.Q.; Duc, T.H.M.; Thinh, P.V.; Anh, L.V.; Dat, N.T.; Nhan, L.V.; Trung, N.Q. Potential Use of Moringa oleifera Twigs Extracts as an Anti- Hyperuricemic and Anti-Microbial Source. Processes 2022, 10, 563. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10030563 Academic Editors: Grzegorz Bartosz and Izabela Sadowska-Bartosz Received: 15 February 2022 Accepted: 11 March 2022 Published: 14 March 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). processes Article Potential Use of Moringa oleifera Twigs Extracts as an Anti-Hyperuricemic and Anti-Microbial Source Truong Ngoc Minh 1,2 , Bui Quang Minh 2 , Tran Ha Minh Duc 2 , Pham Van Thinh 3 , Le Viet Anh 2 , Nguyen Tien Dat 2 , Le Van Nhan 2 and Nguyen Quang Trung 2, * 1 School of Chemistry, Vietnam Academy of Sciences and Technology, GraduateUniversity of Science and Technology (GUST), Hanoi 100000, Vietnam; anphuminh1011@gmail.com 2 Center for Research and Technology Transfer (CRETECH), Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), Hanoi 100000, Vietnam; bqminh@cretech.vast.vn (B.Q.M.); tran.duc.3382@gmail.com (T.H.M.D.);vietanh.livelearn@gmail.com (L.V.A.); ngtiend@gmail.com (N.T.D.); levannhan.na@gmail.com (L.V.N.) 3 Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh University of Food Industry, 140 Le Trong Tan, Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh 70000, Vietnam; thinhpv@hufi.edu.vn * Correspondence: nqt79@yahoo.com; Tel.: +84-912-141-580 Abstract: Moringa oleifera (MO) grows throughout most of the tropics and has several industrial and medicinal uses. Besides the various uses of the plant parts such as its leaves, seed kernels, roots, or stem barks, the twigs (MT) of this plant are usually regarded as excessive parts. Although there have been few studies conducted to determine the value of this plant part, in fact, its potential uses— especially the pharmaceutical effects—of this biomaterial remains an up-to-date topic for scientists to discover due to the lack of interest so far. This study aims to identify the optimized fractions of different solvents for the extraction of antioxidants, for xanthine oxidase inhibition agents, and for anti-microbial activities. The two most active fractions obtained by column chromatography were the Hexane-Ethyl Acetate elution at a 9:1 (E1) and 8:2 (E2) ratio, respectively. With regard to antioxidant activity, E1 and E2 displayed relatively high DPPH radical scavenging capacity (IC 50 = 87.7 and 99.0 μg/mL), which was only four times weaker than the control BHT (IC 50 = 21.4 μg/mL). The highest inhibition activity against xanthine oxidase was also observed clearly in E1 and E2, which showed relatively low IC 50 (54.7 and 42.0 μg/mL, respectively). These levels were inconsiderably higher than that of the positive control (IC 50 = 20.8 μg/mL), proving that E1 and E2 exerted relatively strong antioxidant activity in terms of XOD inhibition. Regarding the antimicrobial test, E2 showed the highest inhibition activities against E. coli, K. pneumoiae, L. monocytogenes, B. subtilis, and P. mirabilis. The result indicates that (1) E1 and E2 were the strongest fractions for constraining free radical agents and several bacteria, and thus, (2) Moringa oleifera twigs are also a potential source for the prevention of gout-related symptoms. Keywords: Moringa oleifera; inhibition; fraction; extract; antioxidant; anti-hyperuricemic; antimicrobial 1. Introduction In the recent era, processing industries of fruit and plant parts are witnessing rapid development as a result of the rising awareness of experts and communities [1]. By-products from plant parts are believed to be a beneficial resource due to the presence of numerous bioactive compounds [2,3]. Recovering bioactive compounds from such by-products via both conventional and innovative extraction techniques is a current goal for chemists. Therefore, applications of food by-product process in various sectors such as food, textiles, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals are increasing rapidly [4]. Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) is widely acknowleged for its medicinal qualities [5]. Various parts of M. oleifera are used as medicinal herbs in Asian countries such as Vietnam Processes 2022, 10, 563. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10030563 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes