Medicinal and Nutritional Values of Drumstick Tree (Moringa Oleifera - a Review
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Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2019) 8(5): 1965-1974 International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 05 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Review Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.805.228 Medicinal and Nutritional Values of Drumstick Tree (Moringa oleifera - A Review Lovepreet Singh, Jyoti and Jatinder Singh* Department of Horticulture, SAGR, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT K e yw or ds Moringa oleifera is also known as ―Miracle Tree‖ and it’s almost all parts have nutritional and pharmacological properties. It is highly nutritious crop cultivated mostly in all parts of Classification, the world. It is a valuable food crop, grows very fast and even beyond food it serves many Distribution, benefits. It has been used to fight against malnutrition, especially among young ones and Nutritional and lactating mothers. Its various plant parts are used for different purposes. It is the richest Medicinal, Water plant source of Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K. Minerals present in this tree include K, Mg, Purificat ion Ca, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe. Its various parts are used for the treatment of various diseases. It Article Info is resistant to drought duration because of long taproot system. Its cultivation is very simple and requires fewer efforts. It plays an important role in conservation of soil, water, Accepted: 17 April 2019 and mitigating climatic change. This review article provides a brief overview about the nutritional importance, health benefits, and their production technology including water Available Online: 10 May 2019 purification properties. Introduction Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka in Indian states. Fuglie (1999) described many Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam) is uses of Moringa tree like: biomass indigenous to Indian subcontinent and has production, animal forage, biogas, domestic become naturalized in the tropical and cleaning agent, in feeding programs to fight subtropical areas of the world. Tree occupies against malnutrition especially in Africa like important position in the Indian vegetable countries, as blue dye, for fencing purpose, as industry. It is a drought tolerant, fast growing, fertilizer, green manure, for gum extraction perennial and easily adapted to diverse eco and honey juice-clarifier, various medicines, and farming systems. It is still supposed to be as ornamental plantation, as bio-pesticide underutilized plant in family Moringaceae. against seedling damping off, rope making, Regional names of Moringa are Drumstick tannin purpose for tanning hides and water tree, Sajna, Horseradish tree, Mulangay, purification. Kelor, Saijihan, and Benzolive, (Fahey, 2005). Almost all parts of the tree may be Almost all parts of the plant contain some edible and have been consumed from long remarkable properties including medicinal times. Moringa is cultivated in Tamil Nadu, and pharmaceutical etc. Due to this reason, 1965 Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2019) 8(5): 1965-1974 irrespective of the era and area the plants have It is a fast-growing, deciduous tree having always been important for humankind since height of 10–12 m and trunk diameter of 1.5 commencement of life (Singh et al., 2012). ft. It has an open crown of fragile, drooping All these properties make it unique branches and the leaves are tri-pinnate. The biomaterials for food and allied uses. flowers are aromatic and five unequal Different preparation from Moringa leaves, yellowish-white petals. The flowers are about flowers, and fruits are used in Indian 1.0–1.5 cm long and 2.0 cm in diameter. They subcontinent for various purposes. Due to are produced on slender, hairy stalks in high nutritional value, it is a popular vital clusters, which are 10–25 cm lengthy. food source against PEM, which is quite Flowering appears after 6 months of planting. common in under developed and developing In cooler regions, flowering occurs once in countries. April and June month while in some areas, having constant seasonal temperatures and It is used in more than 80 countries to relieve rainfall; flowering occurs twice or even all vitamin and mineral deficiencies, supporting year-round. cardiovascular system, blood-glucose levels, reducing malignancy by neutralizing free The fruit is a three-sided brown colored radicals, excellent support for anti- capsule 20–45 cm sized dark brown seeds of inflammatory and immune system of the diameter 1 cm. Three whitish papery wings body. Above all, it has probable benefits in help the seeds to scatter by water and wind. mental alertness, improvement in eyesight, During cultivation tree is cut back every year general weakness, lactating mothers, to 1 - 2 meter to limit height so that menopause, bone strength, and depression harvesting may became easy. The research (Nouman et al., 2014). work done at TNAU, which has modernized cultivation. Moringa belongs to mono generic family named Moringaceae, and this family includes Moringa is grown in tropical and subtropical 12 species of various type trees etc. (Olson, areas with annual rainfall of 760 to 2500 mm 2002). Moringaceae family exhibits a wide and temperature ranging from 18-28 °C. It range of tree forms, like bottle to cylindrical grows in any soil type except waterlogged shaped trees, or tuberous type shrubs (Olson ones. Slightly alkaline clay along with sandy and Carlquist, 2001). Although Moringa tree loam soils is considered ideal due to their is indigenous to India and Pakistan (Duke, good drainage properties (Abdul, 2007) 2001) but according to (Fahey, 2005) this (Table 2). genus is native to various countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Africa, Bangladesh, Present status in India Namibia, India and Madagascar in the northwestern province of the Himalayans. In India, it is grown for its leaves flowers, and This tree is extensively cultivated in dry areas pods. Its pod is a prevalent vegetable in south of tropical type in Middle East and Africa part of India and appreciated for their (Nouman et al., 2013). Trees of Moringaare noticeably inviting flavor. Marimuthu et al., widely disseminated various tropical areas (2001) stated that Moringa seeds have no such as Ghana, Philippines, Ethiopia, Haiti dormancy, due to this property planting can Uganda, Nicaragua and several other nations be done soon after maturity and remain viable of the world in which soil is suitable for for up to one year. Spotty germination is survival of Moringa (Table 1). recorded in case of older seeds. It flowers and 1966 Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2019) 8(5): 1965-1974 fruit yearly but in some regions twice. Its like quercetin and kaempferol. Fresh leaves of cultivation is suitable for dry regions, as it is Moringa are a good source of carotenoids easy to cultivate without expensive irrigation with pro-vitamin A. They contain 6.6–6.8 methods. mg/100 g of β-carotene, greater thanapricots, pumpkin and carrots (Kidmose et al., 2006). Various types of planting systems are used for Bark of Moringais boiled in water and soaked sowing purpose like; direct sowing and in alcohol to acquired drinks and infusions transplanting of young seedlings along with that can be used to cure various ailments joint stem cuttings.2 or 3 seeds, at depth of 2-3 cm pain, diabetes, hemorrhoids hypertension, and spacing of1 m for leaf production while poor vision, anemia, tooth ache, and uterine spacing should be more i.e. 3 to 5 m for disorder (Yabesh et al., 2014). production of seed, leaf and pod. It has been observed that Moringa gives better results Medicinal properties with direct sowing. This tree may be easily cultivated in diverse eco systems and inhabits These are used to cure health related problems a distinctive position in the vegetable like sore throat, ear infections, sprain, industry. In Southern India, best sowing time hypertension, cough, anxiety, headache, is September month. Sowing time should be hysteria, skin infections, epilepsy, for exactingly followed otherwise the flowering intestinal worms, respiratory disorders, joints will be overlapped with monsoon rains and pain, anemia, blackheads, pimples cholera, ultimately result in flower shedding. The seed diarrhea bronchitis, lactation diabetes, rate is 260-270 g/acre. Pinching is very abnormal blood pressure, swelling chest necessary when the plant attains height of75 congestion conjunctivitis, asthma, fever, cm. This practice will stimulate the growth of scurvy, tuberculosis and semen deficiency side branches and the height of the tree is also (Mishra et al., 2012). Moringa tree have been limited. Kumar et al., (2000) observed that proved to contain several chemical pinching of growing terminals at60 days after compounds having beneficial sowing seeds was better than pinching at 90 pharmacological properties with potential days. Fruits are harvested before they develop medicinal applications. They comprise fiber. Approximate yield is 250-400 cholesterol lowering compounds, antiulcer, fruits/year/tree. In old garden of coconut in hypoglycemic, with infectious skin curing, Tamil Nadu Moringa tree have been anti-hypertensive, antispasmodic, and successfully cultivated as intercrop anticancer properties (Anwar et al., 2007). (Marimuthu et al., 2001). Moringa leaf extracts have been used to A single gram of Moringa is important manage hyperthyroidism and anti-Herpes because its leaf powder contains 25 times iron Simplex Virus Type-1 (Lipipun et al., 2003). of spinach, 10 times the vitamins of carrots, 9 Moringa pod and seeds contains high times the protein of yoghurt, 0.5 times the nutrients, and phytochemical compounds such vitamins of oranges, 15 times K of banana as amino acid, vitamins β-carotene, protein, fruits, and 17 times Ca of milk. Apart from minerals, and various phenolics (Farooq et al., these fatty acids, minerals, and amino acids 2007). According to Ayurveda, traditional are also found (Teixeira et al., 2014). The medicine system Moringa can prevent more leaves of Moringa tree are rich source of than 300 diseases (Ganguly et al., 2013).