Introduction:

The Cuban national program for urban and suburban agriculture has among its priorities the promotion, sale and dissemination of the home and community cultivation of Moringa oleifera, since it is attributed multiple benefits for the general well-being of the human being.

Objective:

To describe in a general way, the beneficial effects of Moringa oleifera on people's health.

Method:

A search of the relevant literature on the subject was carried out in August 2020. Scielo, Pubmed, Google and Google Scholar were used as search engines for scientific information. The search strategy included the following terms as keywords: Moringa oleifera, nutrition, beneficial effects. Review articles, research articles and Web pages that, in general, had been published for less than 10 years, in Spanish, Portuguese and English, and that made specific reference to the subject of study through the title, were evaluated. This allowed evaluating 68 articles, of which 36 were referenced.

Conclusions:

Moringa oleifera is a plant appreciated for its nutritional, nutraceutical and functional properties. It exerts a beneficial effect on people's health, fundamentally attributable to its antioxidant, insulin-sensitizing and immunomodulatory properties, with broad protective consequences on various organs and balance in the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. Likewise, it is proposed that it has anticancer, anti-inflammatory effects and antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral and anthelmintic activity, among other qualities. Hence, its use as a nutritional supplement and adjuvant in the prevention and treatment of multiple diseases.

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