Malunggay - a miracle tree
farmeric January 16th, 2008
Note:Posted with permission from Nestor Cuartero (nescuar@yahoo.com) Published at Panorama dated Sunday, January 6, 2008 pp. 20-21********************************************************************************************
BELIEVE it or not, I am now craving for malunggay noodles. I am so fascinated with malunggay’s green leaves that I have just planted so many seedlings in a small farm the family has been growing in Lipa, Batangas.
In the midst of the holiday rush for gifts and the free flow and exchange of rich and creamy food stuff, I remember the taste of malunggay noodles, which I experienced for the first time in one of the regional trade fairs hosted by the now-defunct project, WoW Philippines, of the Department of of Tourism.(The DOT should revive WoW Philippines in 2008 to help our farmers and traders in the provinces promote their products in Manila).
Those malunggay noodles came from Cagayan Valley, where such green leafy vegetables have been given a refreshingly new twist by gifted researchers and entrepreneurs.
Available commercially but not on a wide-scale basis, malunggay noodles are praised for their good taste and nutritious quality. They should be the answer to nutritionists’ complaints against the mass manufacture of instant noodles that are so rich in salt, seasoning, and fats, which are hardly what our noodle-crazy youth citizenry need in their physical development.
Noodles are just one food category cited by Department of Agriculture’s Biotechnology Program, which could use malunggay in their preparation. The program said malunggay could be used to fortify various food products that include, aside from noodles, juices, milk, and bread.
According to Dr. Lorna Valera, a food technologist from the Mariano Marcos State University, malunggay noodles have three-fourths of the iron contained in spinach, which Italian use as a main ingredient in noodle-making.
Dr. Valera is spearheading a campaign to tap local vegetables, such as malunggay, in the preparation of healthy yet appealing foods for general consumption. The idea, she says, is to make malunggay palatable tp the youths’ taste.
In Cagayan Valley, an unknown enterprise called Healthy Rich makes the noodle enriched with vegetables such as ampalaya, pechay, saluyot, squash, soya, carrot, malunggay and spinach.
Among Valera’s other creations are malunggay pastiallas, polunggay or polvorones de malunggay, and malunggay ice cream. Former President Fidel V. Ramos, who has had the distinction of having tasted Valera’s delicious malunggay ice cream during one of his provincial sorties, swears by its heavenly taste.
Known scientifically as moringa spp., malunggay is considered one of the world’s most useful plants. Studies show it is also among the most nutritious and also quite versatile. Once considered a lowly crop, malunggay is grown for human food, livestock forage, medicine, dye, and water treatment.
As food, malunggay’s dark green leaves are rich in iron, Vitamin A, potassium, and other nutrients. The Bureau of Plant Industry says malunggay leaves are believed to contail the calcium equivalent of four glasses of milk, the vitamin C of seven oranges, the potassium of three bananas, three times the iron of spinach, four times the vitamin A in carrots, and two time the protein in milk.
In the old days, all people knew about malunggay was it being an excellent source of calcium that a lactating mother needed to produce more milk for her baby. In public markets, malunggay hardly showed commercial potential. It didn’t enjoy high commercial value, unlike lettuce, squash or cabbage.
At best, malunggay was considered a backyard commodity, not good enough to raise commercially. Why, it could even be had for free in the provinces.
A campaign to plant malunggay trees throughout the country is being encouraged by the Department of Agriculture as an answer to hunger, poverty and malnutrition.
Malunggay ranks high in this regard, not only because of its many nutritional benefits, but also because it’s quite easy to propagate. All one has to do is to cut a mature tree branch or hard stem cutting and plant it directly to the soil. Propagation can also be done through seed planting.
The tree can also be grown in the city, in pocket gardens, or even in pots and plastic pails. Among its yet unknown properties are oil from it’s seed and other chemicals and compounds derived therefrom.
Malunggay’s exceptional qualities and uses are still unknown to many, including to us, whose basic experience with the unique veggie is its surprising yet appetizing noodle form. Beyond noodles, malunggay is possibly a miracle tree waiting to be discovered furthermore.
Posted with permission from Nestor Cuartero (nescuar@yahoo.com)
Published at Panorama dated Sunday, January 6, 2008 pp. 20-21
wow, wantto try the ice cream sometime..
me too…pero nakakita na ako ng malunggay noodles noong pumunta ako ng Bicol last month
I been eating malunggay leaves since I was just in grade 1 and when my wife was pregnant there is always a malunggay in her diet.
One of my favorites, since I am a vegetable eater.
hi! I’m a Chemical engineering student in ust. I just want to ask where to buy malunggay seeds because my groupmates and I needed it for our thesis that we will conduct this summer. just email me at jo_anne_navarrohp@yahoo.com. hoping for your replies. tnx…
like ko rin itry ung malunggay ice cream……….malunggay fanatic ako weh………..hekhekhek!!!!!!
i like malunggay sine my childhood. thanks..
hello po…nais ko lang po magpatulong nagcoconduct po kasi aq ng feasibility study about po sa malunggay pede nyo po ba akong tulungan. pki email nlang po ako.thanks po.