farmeric January 28th, 2011
Botanical name: Moringa oleifera
Popularly known as “drumstick tree” in English.
Bengali: Sajna
Burmese: Dandalonbin
French: Bèn ailé, Benzolive
Gujarati: Suragavo
Hindi & Urdu: Munaga, Sahijna, Segra
Khmer: Daem mrum
Malay: Kalor
Malayalam: Sigru, Muringa
Marathi: Sujna, Shevga
Oriya: Munigha, Sajina
Punjabi: Soanjana
Sinhalese: Murunga
Spanish: Ben, Morango, Moringa
Tagalog: Mulangai
Tamil: Murungai
Telegu: Munaga, Mulaga
Thai: Marum
Vietnamese: Chùm Ngây
More names: www.treesforlife.org/moringa/names
Tags: malunggay, moringga
farmeric January 15th, 2011
Fertiliser
The seed cake, which is produced by pressing the seeds to extract oil, cannot be eaten as it contains harmful substances. However, it contains high levels of protein and makes a good fertiliser for use in agriculture.
Living fence
Planted as a living fence, Moringa provides wind protection and shade. It grows very quickly and if cuttings are planted close together they will form a fence that livestock cannot get through in just 3 months.
Alley cropping
Moringa has a large tap root and few lateral roots so it will not compete for nutrients with the crops. Continue Reading »
Tags: malunggay, moringa, moringa oleifera
farmeric January 6th, 2011
Around the world every part of the Moringa tree has been used effectively against varying ailments. Some of the remedies are described here but there is no guarantee they will work for every case!
Leaves
- Leaves rubbed against the temple can relieve headaches.
- To stop bleeding from a shallow cut, apply a poultice of fresh leaves.
- There is an anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effect when applied to wounds or insect bites.
- Extracts can be used against bacterial or fungal skin complaints.
- Leaf tea treats gastric ulcers and diarrhea.
- Eating Moringa food products is good for those suffering from malnutrition due to the high protein and fibre content.
Flowers
- Flower juice improves the quality and flow of mothers’ milk when breast feeding.
- Flower juice is useful for urinary problems as it encourages urination.
Pods
- If eaten raw, pods act as a de-wormer and treat liver and spleen problems and pains of the joints.
- Due to high protein and fibre content they can play a useful part in treating malnutrition and diarrhea.
Seeds
- Used for their antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties to treat arthritis, rheumatism, gout, cramp, sexually transmitted diseases and boils. The seeds are roasted, pounded, mixed with coconut oil and applied to the problem area. Seed oil can be used for the same ailments.
- Roasted seeds and oil can encourage urination.
- They can also be used as a relaxant for epilepsy.
Roots, bark and gum
The roots and the bark have all of the properties described above but are more concentrated. Therefore much more care should be taken if using them as medicines.
Tags: malunggay, malunggay leaves, medicinal plant, medicine
farmeric January 2nd, 2011
Moringa or malunggay seed powder can be used as a quick and simple method for cleaning dirty river water. The powder joins with the solids in the water and sinks to the bottom. This treatment also removes 90-99% of bacteria contained in water.
Using Moringa to purify water replaces chemicals such as aluminum sulphate, which are dangerous to people and the environment, and are expensive.
Twenty litres of water can be treated in the following way:
- Remove the wings and brown seed coat and discard any seed kernels that have dark spots or any other signs of damage.
- Pound the kernels to a fine powder.
- Add 2 grams (2 small spoons) of powder to one cup of clean water, pour into a bottle and shake for 5 minutes.
- Filter the solution through a clean cloth into the bucket of dirty water that is to be treated. Continue Reading »
Tags: Food, honey, malunggay, moringa, moringa oleifera, sugar cane, water purifier
farmeric December 25th, 2010
Cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and poultry browse the bark, leaves and young shoots of Moringa. The best diet for pigs is 70% Moringa, 10% Leucaena and 20% other leaves. It is possible for their diet to be 100% Moringa but it should be no more than 30% Leucaena.
The pork from pigs fed on this diet is lean. If trees are intended for animal fodder it is useful to prune them to 4m high, but if they are not they should be pruned to 6m so harvesting for human consumption can be easily carried out.
Livestock diets are improved by the addition of Moringa products!
Tags: livestock, malunggay, moringa
farmeric December 20th, 2010
All Moringa food products have a very high nutritional value. You can eat the leaves, especially young shoots, young pods, flowers, roots, and in some species even the bark. Leaves are low in fats and carbohydrates and rich in minerals, iron and vitamin B.
It is particularly useful as a human food because the leaves appear towards the end of the dry season when few other sources of green leafy vegetables are available.
Fresh leaves
Of all the products of the tree the leaves are used the most. They become tougher as they get older so it is best to pick the growing tips and young leaves. Remove the leaves from the woody stem, as this will not soften during cooking. The leaves can be used in the same way as spinach. An easy way of cooking them is to steam 2 cups of freshly picked leaves for a few minutes in one cup of water, seasoned with an onion, butter and salt or other seasonings according to taste.
Dried leaves
A leaf powder can be produced by drying the leaves and crushing or pounding them. You can sift the powder to remove leaf stems. This powder can then be added to Continue Reading »
Tags: Food, malunggay, moringa, moringa oleifera
farmeric December 19th, 2010
All of the parts of the tree can be used in a variety of ways. Moringa is full of nutrients and vitamins and is good in your food as well as in the food of your animals. Moringa helps to clean dirty water and is a useful source of medicines. It provides lots of leafy material that is useful when using alley cropping systems. There are many other uses and these will all be described in this site:
Human food
Animal fodder
Water purification
Natural medicines
Fertilizer
Living fence
Alley cropping
Natural pesticide
Domestic cleaning agent
Fuel wood and other uses
Tags: malunggay, moringa oleifera, moringga
farmeric December 15th, 2010
How Does Moringa (Malunggay) Grow?
Rainfall and altitude
Moringa requires an annual rainfall of between 250 and 3000mm. It is drought resistant, though in drought conditions it may loose its leaves. This does not mean it is dead and it should recover when the rains arrive. It grows best at altitudes up to 600m but it will grow at altitutes of 1000m.
Temperature
It will survive in a temperature range of 25ºC to 40ºC but has been known to tolerate temperatures of 48ºC and light frosts.
Soil
Moringa prefers neutral to slightly acidic soils and grows best in well-drained loam to clay-loam. It tolerates clay soils but does not grow well if waterlogged.
Tags: malunggay, moringa, moringa oleifera
farmeric December 13th, 2010
What is Moringa oleifera?
Moringa oleifera, known as Moringa, is native to north India but is now found throughout the tropics. Moringa is also known as horseradish tree, drumstick tree and mother’s best friend. It grows fast and reaches up to 12m. The bark is grey and thick and looks like cork, peeling in patches.
It looses its leaves from December to January and new growth starts in February to March. Moringa produces cream coloured flowers when it is 8 months old and the flowering season begins in January and continues through to March. The fruit ripens from April to June and the pods are triangular in cross section, 30 to 50cm long and contain oily, black, winged seeds.
source: Moringa oleifera A multi-purpose tree
Tags: malunggay, moringa, moringa oleifera
farmeric August 21st, 2010
Under the program dubbed “Utanon Kada Balay”, the DA through its CARAGA Regional Office aims to provide every household with vegetable seedlings or planting material to come up with their own backyard vegetable garden for their persona consumption, as well as feed of their animals such as goats, pigs, chickens or ducks
In 2007, the Department of Agriculture in Caraga distributed 300,000 malunggay seedlings to 100,000 families to help mitigate hunger, fight poverty, and solve the growing problem of malnutrition in the region.
CARAGA, an impoverished region of Mindanao, is considered a priority area because of the high incidence of hunger, as well as malnutrition among pregnant women and children.
The program was established to help promote malunggay culture and thus help boost the national campaign against hunger and poverty.
CARAGA, covers the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte.
Tags: fight poverty, malunggay, moringga
