jemasmith
Miracle tree! Moringa oleifera
This is an exceptionally nutritious vegetable tree which grows mainly in semi-arid tropical and subtropical areas. It is considered to be one of the world’s most useful trees, as almost every part of it can be used for food, or has some other beneficial property.
Immature green pods - eaten like beans (slight asparagus taste).
Seeds - eaten like peas, roasted like nuts or pressed for oil. (Residue then used to purify water.)
Flowers - when cooked taste like mushrooms.
Roots - shredded and used as a condiment like horseradish.
Leaves - cooked and used like spinach.
Nutrition - weight per weight, moringa leaves have the calcium equivalent of 4 glasses of milk, the vitamin C content of 7 oranges, potassium of 3 bananas, 3 times the iron of spinach, 4 times the amount of vitamin A in carrots, and 2 times the protein in milk.
Medicinal qualities - used to treat malnutrition, rheumatism, venomous bites. Its cancer-inhibiting properties are being researched.
Other uses - biofuel, antibiotic.
Amazingly, this useful tree is not available in Australia. This one was photographed in the garden of a Filipina friend, who obtained it from a cutting from one brought from the Phillipines, where it is grown extensively, before quarantine laws prevented its importation. In the Philipines, it is known as the Malunggay tree.
Miracle tree! Moringa oleifera
This is an exceptionally nutritious vegetable tree which grows mainly in semi-arid tropical and subtropical areas. It is considered to be one of the world’s most useful trees, as almost every part of it can be used for food, or has some other beneficial property.
Immature green pods - eaten like beans (slight asparagus taste).
Seeds - eaten like peas, roasted like nuts or pressed for oil. (Residue then used to purify water.)
Flowers - when cooked taste like mushrooms.
Roots - shredded and used as a condiment like horseradish.
Leaves - cooked and used like spinach.
Nutrition - weight per weight, moringa leaves have the calcium equivalent of 4 glasses of milk, the vitamin C content of 7 oranges, potassium of 3 bananas, 3 times the iron of spinach, 4 times the amount of vitamin A in carrots, and 2 times the protein in milk.
Medicinal qualities - used to treat malnutrition, rheumatism, venomous bites. Its cancer-inhibiting properties are being researched.
Other uses - biofuel, antibiotic.
Amazingly, this useful tree is not available in Australia. This one was photographed in the garden of a Filipina friend, who obtained it from a cutting from one brought from the Phillipines, where it is grown extensively, before quarantine laws prevented its importation. In the Philipines, it is known as the Malunggay tree.