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MORINGA OLEIFERA , HORSHRADISH
DESCRIPTION
Moringa oleifera other uses
Pod: The Moringa fruit is a long thin pod resembling a drumstick.The Moringa pod is known as "drumstick" or saragwa or saragwe in India. In South India, it is used to prepare a variety of sambar and is also fried. It is also preserved by canning and exported worldwide. It can be made into a variety of curry dishes by mixing with coconut, poppy seeds, and mustard. It can just be boiled until the drumsticks are semi-soft and consumed directly without any extra processing or cooking. It is used in curries, sambars, korm. Drumstick dal is also a very tasty version of the traditional 'toor dal'.
Leaves: The Moringa oleifera leaves are highly nutritious, being a significant source of beta-carotene, Vitamin C,
protein, iron, and potassium. The leaves are cooked and used like spinach. In addition to being used fresh as a substitute for spinach, its leaves are commonly dried and crushed into a powder, and used in soups and sauces. Amino acids in green leaf vegetables vary considerably, and many that are staples, are low in the sulphur bearing amino acids methionine and cystine
Flowers: The flowers are edible when cooked, and are said to taste like mushrooms.
Ben Oil: The Moringa seeds yield 38–40% edible oil (called ben oil from the high concentration of behenic acid contained in the oil). The refined oil is clear, odorless, and resists rancidity at least as well as any other botanical oil. The seed cake remaining after oil extraction may be used as a fertilizer or as a flocculent to purify water.
Oil from the seed, called Oil of Ben, is used for earache and in ointments for skin conditions. The oil rubbed on the skin is said to prevent mosquitoes from biting. Flowers infused in honey are used as a cough remedy.
Water treatment: Seeds crushed to a powder are used to clarify turbid, dirty water. The cleansing takes place by a process of electrical charges established between the muddy particles suspended in the water and the pulverized seeds, and gradually, after about an hour, the muddy particles are pulled to the bottom of the water by the force of gravity. Research shows that the seed not only settles the mud, but can carry with it over 90% of bacteria and viruses
A great fodder for cattle: Moringa tree has been of great use not only to the human beings in terms of their health in one form or the other but also for their livestock. Moringa makes a great fodder for cattle. The weight of livestock increased upto 32 per cent through moringa feed. And their milk yield of cows increased by 43 percent.
The dried leaves appear to be much more effective. One agriculturist fed his cows with just 2 kg of dry matter of Moringa per day in addition to the normal food he had been feeding them with and the milk production increased by 58 percent. Then he increased it to 3 kg per day, and the milk production increased by 65 percent.
Bio-gas: You can also produce methane out of the leaves. Experiments have established that it is possible to produce 4400 cubic meters of bio gas per hectare per year.
Industrial uses: The seed oil is used in arts and for lubricating watches and other delicate machinery, and useful in the manufacture of perfumes and hairdressings. The pressed cake obtained after oil extraction may be used as a fertilizer. The industrial uses of the drumstick tree include the use of its wood in paper and textile industries, bark in the tanning industry, and the seeds in water purification |
