Moringa: A Miraculous Tree
Moringa Tree is called “ The Miracle Tree” because of various reasons. More than 700 scientific studies show that Moringa’s leaves and fruits exhibits versatile benefits to human health. Moringa has high antioxidant activities, probably as high as any other currently known plants. Moringa contains four times more vitamin A than carrots, two times more protein than soya, seven times more vitamin C than oranges, four times more calcium than milk, three times as much potassium as bananas as well as massive amounts of natural chlorophylls, vitamin B, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K etc. Moringa also provides a very high proportion of unsaturated natural fatty acids (omega-3, 6, 9) and almost all essential and non-essential amino acids. Moringa oleifera is one of the 14 species of family Moringaceae, native to India, Pakistan, Africa, Arab, Southeast Asia, South America, and the Pacific and Caribbean Islands. M. oleifera has been grown in many tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world and referred by a number of names such as Horseradish tree, Drumstick tree, Ben oil tree, and Miracle tree. The plant grows up to 30 cm per month and can be reached up to about four meter within one year. The Moringa tree was introduced to Africa from India at the turn of the twentieth century where it was to be used as a health supplement. Almost all parts of the plant are used culturally for its nutritional value. The leaves of Moringa can be eaten fresh, cooked or stored as a dried powder for several months reportedly without any major loss of its nutritional value.
A lots of medical studies revealed that M. oleifera leaves contains magnesium, zinc, iron, selenium, leucine, choline, zeatin, β-sitosterol, lutein, glutathione etc and thus exhibits anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, and anti-convulsive activities. Modern life styles such as sedentary habits and fast-food consumptions, leads to a number of diseases due to massive formation of free radicals such as Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in the body. Antioxidant substances present in Moringa leaves act as free radicals scavenger, hence protecting the body from different types of diseases. High ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) values of Moringa leaves indicate the degree to which a biological substance inhibits a free radical. Moringa shines here with a value of about 46,000 ORAC units per 100 grams. The U.S Department of Agriculture recommends that taking 3000 to 5000 ORAC units daily may protect the body from many diseases. Now-a-days about 80% of the population is taking less than 1000 units per day of any food containing ORAC value. Moringa is a perfect source of protein and it contains 18 out of 20 amino acids. The body metabolizes its protein which helps in the production of hormones, enzymes, and antibodies. It also regulates the development of bones, muscles, teeth, connective tissues, and blood vessels. Moringa, as agreat source of protein, is beneficial for children, pregnant women, vegetarians, and athletes. Women inmenopause may also benefitted from its balanced amino acid content. Due to high content of β-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin C, and iron, Moringa provides a good supply of Oxygen in the brain and supports formation of hemoglobin.
The seeds of the Moringa’s fruit are slightly larger than a pea and can also be cooked like peas or roasted like nuts to serve as a food. The seeds yield good quality oil, known as Ben oil, and is often ompared to olive oil. Ben oil is highly valued in the cosmetic industry and its edible constituents canalso be used as a cooking oil for frying. The fatty acid compositions of solvent and enzyme-extracted oil from Moringa seeds showed 67.9% oleic acid in the solvent extract and about 70% in the enzyme extracts. Due to high monounsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio, Moringa seed oil could be considered as an acceptable substitute for highly monounsaturated oils such as olive oil. Moringa oil utilized as a frying oil can also be a healthy alternative to other commonly used oils. Moringa is “Novel” food substitute and must be propagated worldwide, especially the places were hunger and malnutrition is prevalent. Establishment of organizations, such as Healthy India Foundation, dedicated to propagate the benefits of Miraculous Plant Moringa is also fruitful. The investigations of the different parts of the tree is in fact multidisciplinary task. As for the great bioavailability of nutrients, there are many processes in this plant could not be explained and still many discoveries remains ahead.
