MORINGA OLEIFERA

Africa University is carrying out research on the Moringa tree. Moringa is grown through out the world today. The potential benefits of Moringa have raised great interest among scientists and ordinary people. It is generally agreed that third world countries have a greater potential to benefit from Moringa. The Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Africa University grew a plot of Moringa Oleifera at the University farm. The seeds for the Moringa plot were donated by Richard and Joe Dugger of Culver Indiana to Prof F.and Mrs M. Tagwira during the Missions Conference at ECHO in Florida in 1999 and the others were brought from Tanzania by Prof. A. Mphuru, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The Moringa trees are used for teaching students, research and training local communities. A number of people in the local community have also received seeds while others have bought Moringa plants from the Faculty Nursery.

Part of the Moringa plot at Africa University

A productive Moringa tree at Africa University

Moringa (Genus Moringaceae) is found in various parts of the world. Among the 14 known species are Moringa stenopetala which is native to Ethiopia and northern Kenya, Moringa peregrina native to Sudan, Egypt, the Arabian peninsula and north the Dead Sea, Moringa Ovalifolia which grows in Angola and Namibia and Moringa Oleifera which is native to northern India but is now distributed world wide in the tropics and subtropics.

Moringa is a multipurpose tree with a variety of potential uses. Its oil has been used in cosmetics and protecting the skin since the Roman, Greek and Egyptian Civilizations.
The Moringa Oleifera is the best known. It is fast growing and drought resistant. Moringa is a short, slender, deciduous, perennial tree, which grows to about 10 m tall. It has fragrant, white or creamy-white flowers. The pods contain about 20 seeds embedded in the pith. The pod tapers at both ends, and is 9-ribbed. The seeds are dark brown, with 3 papery wings.

Uses and Potential Uses of Moringa

Moringa has value as a nutritious food and as a medicine. The edible leaves are nutritious and are consumed in West Africa and parts of Asia. Powder from seed kernel works as natural coagulant, which can clarify very turbid water.

Moringa as a food
The pods, leaves and seeds of Moringa are highly nutritious and contain large amounts of protein and vitamin A, B, calcium and iron. When raw, vitamin C is also available. The edible leaves are nutritious and are consumed in West Africa and parts of Asia. Work carried out by Church World Service in Senegal showed the nutritional value of Moringa. In Senegal, Moringa helped improve the nutrition of expectant mothers and new borne babies. Moringa saved some of the children who could have died because of malnutrition. Mixing just two to three teaspoons of dried Moringa leaf powder into sauces provided significant nutritional value to children in areas of high malnutrition. Seeds in the green pods can be roasted and eaten like peanuts. The seed can be processed to produce a vegetable oil for uses like cooking, soap making, cosmetics, and also as a fuel for lamps. The thickened root is used as substitute for horseradish. Foliage is eaten as greens, in salads, in vegetables curries, as pickles, and for seasoning.

Moringa as an answer to polluted water
The seeds of Moringa can be used in water purification. Research carried out by British scientists established that the crushed seed of Moringa is capable of attracting and sticking fast to bacteria and other viruses allowing them to be skimmed off or get trapped in filter beds. The crushed seeds of Moringa produce positive charges, which get attracted to the negative charges of the bacteria and other toxic particles in the water. Seed harvested for water treatment should be harvested during the dry season only. In urban areas, water authorities use aluminium sulphate to solidify impure particles, which are then removed at treatment works. These chemicals are expensive for rural communities and even some urban centre in developing countries. Moringa can be used at low cost to the community. Almost 1.3 billion people in developing countries today cannot afford safe drinking water and over 6 million children die from drinking unclean water. Moringa is a good remedy to reduce the incidence of water borne diseases, which are one of the major causes of deaths in developing countries.

Moringa as medicine
According to Hartwell (1967-1971), the flowers, leaves, and roots are used in folk remedies for tumours, the seed for abdominal tumours. The root decoctin is used in Nicaragua for dropsy. Root juice is applied externally as rubefacient or counter irritant. Leaves are applied as poultice to sores, rubbed on the temples for headaches, and are said to have purgative properties. Bark, leaves and roots are acrid and pungent, and are taken to promote digestion. Oil is somewhat dangerous if taken internally, but is applied externally for skin diseases. Bark regarded as antiscorbic, and exudes a reddish gum and is sometimes used for diarrhoea. Roots are bitter, act as a tonic to the body and lungs, and are expectorant, mild diuretic and stimulant in paralytic afflictions, epilepsy and hysteria.

Moringa Shoots As Green Manure
Using Moringa as a green manure can significantly enrich agricultural land. In this process, the land is first tilled. Moringa seed is then planted 1-2 cm deep at a spacing of 10x10 cm (a density of one million seed per hectare). The density can be greater. The only limits to plant density are availability of seed, water and fertilizer. After 25 days, the seedlings are ploughed into the soil to a depth of 15 cm. The land is prepared again for the crop desired. Yield of up to 650metric tons of green matter per hectare has been achieved. This compares very well to other green manure crops such as lablab beans, which yield up to 110 tons/hectare of green matter.

Moringa As Livestock Feed
Moringa leaves can also be used as cattle feed, swine feed and poultry feed. . With Moringa leaves constituting 40-50% of feed, milk yields for dairy cows and daily weight gains for beef cattle increased 30%.
Africa University is carrying out research and will soon be carrying out outreach activities to take Moringa to the people. The broad objective of the Moringa Studies being carried out at Africa University is to determine ways in which Moringa products can be utilised to improve the lives of local communities. In a recent study Prof. F. Tagwira determined the potential benefit of using Moringa tissue extract as a growth hormone for some horticultural crops. Moringa shoot extract significantly increase yields of some horticultural crops. The Moringa extract acts as a growth hormone.

Full details of the research can be obtained from Prof. Fanuel Tagwira, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Africa University, P.O. Box 1320, Mutare, Zimbabwe. E-mail address FTAGWIRA@africau.ac.zw