Moringa Research Products™ Division

This page is under construction.

RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS

This special section of our website was created in 2020 to focus on our activities relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and share information developed on the potential uses of moringa for treating COVID-19. This is believed to be the first compilation of information published on this subject.

This section was hurriedly prepared, some areas remain incomplete, and all information should be considered provisional. Given the urgency of pursuing all potential treatments for COVID-19 we felt that it was important to bring this information to the public as soon as possible and to solicit research support, rather than taking the time to issue more complete, edited and reviewed products. Some of the topics covered here also involve subject matter outside our expertise. Corrections and suggestions additions to the content are welcome.

No statements on this website and none of our products are intended for use in diagnosing, treating, curing or preventing any diseases of humans, animals or plants. None of these statements or products have been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

INFORMATION ON THE POTENTIAL USES OF MORINGA FOR TREATMENT OF CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) INFECTIONS

SUMMARY OF INFORMATION

By Edward H. Rau

First Published on April 14, 2020. Last updated on August 20, 2022.

This summary was prepared from our first literature search and is believed to be the first publication on this subject.

Background

Until recently there were no validated and approved specific treatments for COVID-19, the pandemic disease caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus. On October 22, 2020 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Veklury (remdisivir) and this was the first treatment to receive approval (FDA 2020). As of August 2022, the CDC listed four antiviral drugs and one monoclonal antibody for treatment of COVID infections.

Medicines derived from natural products may offer an alternative to the long and costly process of developing new drugs for COVID-19. Plants in the genus Moringa have many well-established medicinal uses and have been used to treat other viral diseases suggesting possible applications in treatment of COVID-19.

As December 2020, only one scientific reference (Hamza et al. 2020) on the potential uses of moringa in preventing or treating COVID-19 or other coronavirus diseases such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) were published. However, my review of the scientific literature revealed a significant body of evidence supporting potential use of moringa leaves and seeds for use as a direct antiviral treatment, multi-functional supportive treatment, or adjunct to other future treatment regimens for COVID-19. Furthermore, these natural products are widely available and could be used now, before their efficacy in treatment of COVID-19 can be evaluated. They provide other well-established nutritional benefits and have been used safely since ancient times as foods and traditional medicines. The potential benefits of moringa for COVID-19 are many and include:

Antiviral Activity – Moringa has shown activity against a diverse group of other viruses that cause human diseases including the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis B, oral and genital herpes, Epstein Barr, poliovirus, human cytomegalovirus and hoof and mouth disease. In June 2020 Hamza et al. published the results of a laboratory study confirming that compounds present in moringa have activity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and proposed using these in clinical trials.

Antimicrobial Activity – Moringa has shown antimicrobial activity and has been used to treat infectious diseases caused by a wide range of other non-viral agents ranging from pathogenic bacteria to helminth parasites. Treatment of COVID-19 patents with moringa could help control other concurrent infections and prevent secondary infections with these organisms.

Anti-inflammatory and Immune Boosting Activities – Inflammation of the lungs and heart, and immune deficiency are the primary symptoms of COVID-19 infections causing morbidity and mortality, and both are related to an inappropriate immune response. Moringa has been shown to promote the immune response to other viral diseases and has potent anti-inflammatory properties.

Antidiabetic and Antihypertensive Properties – COVID-19 patients with diabetes and/or hypertension have higher hospital admission rates and poorer outcomes than those without these preexisting conditions. Moringa is widely used in traditional medicine for treatment of both diabetes and hypertension, and multiple scientific studies have confirmed the antidiabetic and antihypertensive activities of moringa.

Nutritional Support – Moringa is considered a superfood, containing most of the vitamins and minerals needed for health and it is high in protein. Consumption of moringa has improved the outcomes of people undergoing antiretroviral therapy for AIDES.

Compatibility with Other Antiviral Therapies – The use of herbal supplements with other conventional drugs raises the potential risks of adverse herb-drug interactions. Limited research on co-administration of moringa with antiretroviral therapies provides no evidence of adverse interactions.

Low Cost and High Availability – Moringa may have several practical advantages over other future therapies for COVID-19 with conventional drugs:

- Moringa trees are easy to grow and widely cultivated in areas of Africa, Southeast Asia where access to medical care, new medications and vaccines may be most limited.
- Moringa leaves and seeds require minimal processing; in fact, they may be most effective as raw, natural products.
- Dried leaf powder and seed products are stable, require no refrigeration and are easy to transport, store and dispense.
- Moringa can be sold as a food or dietary supplement with reduced or no regulatory barriers to distribution.

Supporting information and references are presented in the draft literature review.

DRAFT LITERATURE REVIEW

The review is available here.

Additional References

Listed by Author

Listed by Subject

Review Articles on Moringa Phytochemistry, Pharmacology and Nutritional Properties

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

June 2020. First Published Research Suggests the Effectiveness of Moringa and Moving to Clinical Trials. In June 2020 a team of researchers from China and Pakistan (Hamza et al. 2020) published the results of a first study of the antiviral activities of natural products from moringa against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). They found that compounds present in the extracts of moringa leaves – anthraquinone and bioflavonoids, strongly bind to and inhibit viral peptides indicating that these compounds are effective antiviral agents against COVID-19 and could be used in clinical trials.
July 2020. Clinical and Preclinical Candidate Compound Submission to NIH. We were invited to submit information on moringa as a potential therapeutic candidate for the NIH Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) public-private partnership. This information was compiled and submitted to the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences on July 10, 2020.
September 2020. Assistance Request to the Surgeon General. We wrote Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams, Surgeon General of United States Public Health Service, and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, to request assistance in advancing research on moringa as a therapeutic agent for COVID-19 infections. There was no response.
October – December 2020. We contacted numerous agencies, research programs and philanthropic organizations, and posted a project listing on Research Gate attempting to promote research interest. As of December 2020 most of these had not responded.
2021- 2022. Increasing Research Interest and Activity. More than 15 additional studies have been published supporting the proposed use of moringa for COVID-19 infections. We are unaware of any clinical trials in progress or planned.

NEW MORINGA-COVID RESEARCH PUBLISHED IN 2021

We are pleased to report that by July 2021 increasing research on moringa and COVID-19 was underway and several new studies were published with promising results. This further supports our original idea advanced early in the pandemic, that moringa should receive high priority for investigation as a potential multi-functional therapeutic agent for treatment of COVID-19 infections. Other new publications indicate that inclusion of moringa in the diet may also reduce the risk of infections and support patients by improving their nutritional status.

A summary information on the new research in 2021 and a listing of references is available here. We will update the reference list with 2022 publications soon.

Continuing Appeal for Research

We have contacted numerous agencies, research institutions and philanthropic organizations to promote this research and get moringa plant materials tested for activity against COVID-19. So far, we have not been successful.

Unfortunately, the current focus of research in the U.S. on development of therapeutic candidates for COVID-19 is on purified compounds of known composition with prior clinical experience. Testing of extracts from natural products such as those from moringa is of low priority.

We welcome opportunities to collaborate with other bona fide investigators and can provide fresh plant materials and seeds for research purposes. Laboratory and clinical research is beyond our capabilities.

Please contact us for additional information.

How to Grow Moringa

How to Use Moringa

This page was last updated on August 20, 2022.