Moringa oleifera, also called the “miracle tree,” is a native of northern India and a distant relative of mustard and cabbage. It’s a small deciduous tree with compound leaves and a smooth gray trunk, often curiously swollen, like a baobab’s. It is an impressive organism by any reckoning, and it tends to inspire unreasoning, near-hysterical adulation. According to the website Cancer Tutor:Moringa oleifera is a tree brought from the mind of God to the hands of man. It was recognized by the National Institutes of Health as the Botanical of the Year for 2007, and praised again in 2011 and 2012. It is valued worldwide for its ability to treat over 300 diseases. It has the ability to retain high concentrations of electrolyte minerals, allowing it to stay internally hydrated in the driest of conditions. Africans have honored it with names that translate to: “Never Die,” and “The Only Thing that Grows in the Dry Season,” and “Mother’s Milk.” I think it’s safe to say that this plant has saved more lives in 3rd world countries than any other.That list of three hundred diseases includes: prostate disorders, tonsillitis, tuberculosis, stomach ulcers, skin infections, cholera, conjunctivitis, psoriasis, asthma, anemia, gonorrhea, semen deficiency, colitis, jaundice, malaria, arthritis, cancer, and stroke.
These are outrageous claims, but I share the author’s enthusiasm. I have a moringa tree growing in a small pot outside. It’s 88 degrees today, and the dew point is 76, and the sun—I live close to the Tropic of Cancer—is almost directly overhead and so hot that it will boil all the water out of the tree’s black pot as soon as I pour it in there. But I don’t need to pour any water in there, because the moringa tree doesn’t mind the heat at all. I can almost watch it grow. And this is a potted moringa tree, too. If it were in the ground, it would sink a taproot all the way to the aquifer and it wouldn’t mind if it never rained again.
Many parts of the miracle tree are edible. The leaves are particularly nutritious, containing large amounts of vitamins and minerals and a staggering amount of protein—9.4 grams per 100 gram serving, almost three times as much as cow’s milk. They are a popular cooking green in many parts of the tropical world, and an ingredient in Cambodian samlor korko, various South Indian and Sri Lankan lentil dishes, Bengali curries, and Maldivian fish soups. The immature seedpods are also edible, as are the mature seeds, which can be roasted like nuts or pressed to make oil. Even the roots are edible, or at least some people eat them (other people say they’re toxic). They can be grated, like the roots of the moringa’s relatives in the mustard family, to make a spicy condiment. For this reason it’s sometimes called the “horseradish tree.”
And the wonders continue: Moringa oil burns clean and clear, and can be used as a fuel. And some of those medical claims are real, although more research is needed. Most amazing of all, cakes of the pressed seed husk can be used to purify water.
by Aaron Thier, Lucky Peach | Read more:
Image: uncredited
