Moringa Facts and Benefits

Basically, you can do a lot with moringa leaves.  What makes it special is its better nutritional value as it is found to have 26% “crude protein” and rich in Bitamina A, C, iron and potasyum compared to its counterpart organic raw materials or products.  It ain’t rocket science to figure it out.  Practically, you can do it in the convenience of your kitchen or home, or establish a small business through it.  Here are some of its benefits: 

• Can be mix with other vegetable as egg plant, ampalaya, squash and related with sauteed with fish or pork.  In the Philippines, we call these recipe as “pakbet,” “diningding,” and “bulanglang.” (Actually, there are lots of recipe using moringa leaves and you can experiment yourself if you want)

• Can also be mix with meat as chicken, beef or pork with cut into big cubes green papaya.  We call this recipe as, “tinola.”  This is a type of soup dish.
• Aside from the fresh leaves and young pods, other parts of moringa are useful as a human food.  The dried leaves can be crushed or pounded (and be filtered to remove leaf stems) and then be added to sauces at the same time as other condiments or vegetables are added. 
• Practically, you can also use the flowers in various cooking recipe or just placed in hot water for 5 minutes to make a natural tea.
• The pods can be harvested for their seeds/peas, which can be used as any other green pea, from the time they appear until they turn yellow and their shells begin to harden. After removing the seeds/peas and white flesh from the pod, put them into a strainer and wash them. They may also be boiled for a few minutes; then, drained and boiled again in fresh water.
• The roots of the 60cm tall-seedling can be made into a sauce. The root is ground up after the root bark is completely removed (as it contains harmful substances). After adding vinegar and salt, the sauce is ready to serve; however, it should not be eaten in excess.  It is best stored in refrigerator.
• Dried moringa leaves in rough powder form can be mix in bread or baked products for added nutritional value and unique selling proposition.
• Dried moringa leaves can also be turn into moringa tea or coffee mix
• Powderized form or factory processed leaves can also be used as industrieal ingredients for animal feeds, cosmetics addetives, food for human consumption, etc.
• Moringa granules for cooking and food processing helps
• Moringa Juice
• Moringa oil
• We intend to develop a vegimeat (meat alike that taste and looks like cut or cube pork but actually it’s a vegetable made of processed moringa). 
• We also intend to develop commercial food and drinks alike for craving customers and healthy options. We still need investors for this project.  Just immagine a cola soft drinks, chocolate bars, tooth paste, cooking oil, food snack, cereal and cosmetics that looks very much like the known brand yet in reality a healthy option made of processed moringa.
• There’s more.

 Moringa as vitamin and medicine

• Moringa can be turned into a vitamin capsule as it helps immensely in raising semen count for men
• Moringa help various ailments and intoxicate human or animal body.  Some of the remedies are described below.  However, there is no guarantee that they will work for every case.

– Headaches = rub leaves against the temple

– Bleeding from a shallow cut, wounds and insect bites = dress the wounded part with fresh leaves

– Bacterial or fungal skin complaints = apply affected areas with leaves extracts

– Gastric ulcers and diarrhea = drink leaf tea

– Malnutrition = eat Malunggay products

– Breast feeding = drink flower juice to improve the quality and flow of mother’s milk

–  Urinary problems = drink flower juice

–  Worm, liver and spleen problems and joint pains = eat raw pods

–  Arthritis, rheumatism, gout, cramp, STD, urinary problems, epilepsy, and boils = apply either roasted and pounded seeds mixed with coconut oil to problem area or seed oil

–  The roots and the bark can also resolve the above ailments but are more concentrated.  Hence, much care is need if they are to be used as medicines.

Natural Pesticide

Aside from utilizing the seed-cake as fertilizer, Malunggay leaves can be dug into the soil before planting to prevent the damping off disease (Pythium debaryanum) among the seedlings.

Domestic Cleaning Agent

Crushed leaves can be used to clean cooking utensils or even walls.

Water Purifier

Using Malunggay to purify water replaces chemicals such as aluminum sulphate which are aside from being expensive are also dangerous to people and environment. Seed powder can be used as a quick and simple method for cleaning dirty water and can

remove 90-99% of bacteria contained in water. 20 litres of water can be treated in the following way:

1. Remove the wings and brown seed coat.  Discard any seed kernels that have dark spots or any other signs of damage.
2. Pound the kernels to a fine powder.
3. Add 2 grams (2 small spoons) of powder to 1 cup of clean water.  Pour into a bottle and shake for 5 minutes.
4. Filter the solution through a clean cloth into the bucket of dirty water that is to be treated.
5. Stir the water quickly for 2 minutes and slowly for 10 to 15 minutes.  Do not use metal implements.
6. Leave the bucket undisturbed for one hour or until the water becomes clear and the impurities have sunk to the bottom.
7. Filter the water through a clean cloth.
8. Boil the water before drinking.

Water from varying sources will need different amounts of powder because of the impurities present will not be the same.  Both the seeds and the seed powder can be stored but the solution made in stage 3 should not be stored. It should be freshly made every time water is to be purified.

Moringa Oil

The mature seeds can be pressed for oil extraction. If a press is not available, the seeds can be browned or roasted, ground, and added to boiling water. Oil is then separated when it floats to the surface. The seed-cake left from the extraction can still be used for water treatment.

Animal Fodder 

Cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and poultry browse the bark, leaves, and young shoots of Malunggay. The best diet for pigs is 70% Malunggay, 10% Leucaena, and 20% other leaves. If trees are intended for animal fodder, it is useful to prune them to 4m high; otherwise, they should be pruned to 6m so harvesting for human consumption can be easily carried out.