A piece of metal debris found on an island in the Indian Ocean over the weekend is not from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, officials have confirmed.

Investigators took the debris into evidence on the island of La Reunion, where a Boeing 777 wing part believed to belong to the plane washed up last week.

However, nothing indicated the piece of metal came from the airplane and it has reportedly been discounted as part of a ladder.

Malaysian transport minister Liow Tiong Lai said the formal identification process of the wing component, known as a flaperon, will happen on Wednesday.

Investigators from France, the United States, Malaysia, China and Boeing will inspect the debris.

Liow Tiong Lai said it had been confirmed as being from a Boeing 777 — the same model plane as MH370.

The minister has appealed for more safety authorities in the Indian Ocean to search for debris.

MH370 disappeared in March of last year after drastically veering off its intended route from Kuala Lumpur to the Chinese capital Beijing.

The plane is thought to have crashed in the Indian Ocean.