The effect of washing methods on hygienic and quality level of industrial Moringa oleifera leaves

Moringa oleifera had many functions, such as food, cosmetic and medical products. The leaves were washed by clean water and salt solution. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of washing method to the hygienic and quality of industrial M. oleifera leaves. The results of the study will bring up the most effective washing method recommendation for the M. oleifera leaf industry. In this study, four types of washing method were applied to the M. oleifera leaves to compare several types of water sources, namely well water, the government-treated water, refilled water and bottled water. Further, two types of salt sources, namely commercial salt and raw salt, were also used. The parameter of M. oleifera hygiene was the total plate count, MPN coliform, Salmonella sp. presented, and Staphylococcus aureus' cell number. Meanwhile, the antioxidant capacity and flavonoid level were also determined as the quality level of M. oleifera leaves. The results showed that the most effective washing method was using a combination of bottled water and commercial salt with the total plate count, MPN, S. aureus value of 0.9 × 10⁴ CFU/gram, 0.55/gram, 0.2 × 10² CFU/gram, respectively, all with positive results in Salmonella sp. test. The best M. oleifera quality was achieved by washing the leaves with refilled water and raw salt with a number of level of flavonoid of 8.57 mgQE/gram and antioxidant capacity percentage of 69%.