Moringa oleifera intake during pregnancy and breastfeeding toward docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid levels in breast milk

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Moringa oleifera is a nutritional food supplement that can save lives, particularly in countries with malnourished community. Such supplement can also be provided to breastfeeding mothers so that they can produce more breast milk. AIM: This study investigated the effect of M. oleifera on pregnant and breastfeeding mothers on their breast milk’s docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) concentration. METHODS: This was a longitudinal study which was the continuity from the previous experimental study. The research sample was 64 breastfeeding mothers given Moringa leaves powder (MLP), Moringa leaves extract (MLE), or iron-folic acid (IFA). The data were analyzed using Kruskal–Wallis test with the significance level of 95% aiming to assess the difference between the breast milk’s DHA and AA level on MLP, MLE, and IFA groups. RESULTS: This research indicated that most mothers had low education level (71.9 %) and did not work (89.1%). There was no significant difference between the DHA level (p = 0.215) and AA (p = 0.914) of the breast milk among the MLP, MLE, and IFA groups. CONCLUSION: The intervention might contribute a little effect on DHA and AA level in the breast milk.

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