MORINGA OLEIFERA

Common name: Drumstick tree, Horseradish tree, Senjana सेंजन (Hindi), Muringai (Malayalam), முறுங்கை Murungai (Tamil), Shevga शेवगा (Marathi), Mashinga मशींग (Konkani)

Botanical name: Moringa oleifera    

Family: Moringaceae (drumstick family)

Geographical distribution

It occurs throughout India in tropical and sub-tropical regions and also cultivated.

Introduction: Drumstick tree is a small, deciduous tree, of the family Moringaceae, native to tropical Asia but also naturalized in Africa and tropical America. Drumstick trees can reach a height of about 9 m (30 feet); they have corky gray bark, branching and fernlike leaves. Highly scented white flowers and long bean like seed pods. Seed pods are used as a vegetable, especially in south Indian cuisine, e.g. drumstick sambar. An excellent oil is derived from the seeds, which is used for cooking and lubrication of delicate mechanisms. The leaves are extensively used as a vegetable in many parts of the world, and the root can be made into a condiment similar to horseradish

Chemical composition

Root and its bark contain spirochic, pterygospermin (an antibiotic), moringine and moringinene.

Therapeutic uses

The plant is used as a tonic, abortifacient, anthelmintic, antilithic, carminative, digestive, emmenagogue, rubifacient, stomachic, stimulant and vesicant. Oil obtained from the seeds is a useful remedy for gout and acute rheumatism.

Folk medicinal uses

The tender leaves are given in scurvy and catarrhal diseases; in doses of one and a half gm. A poultice of the fresh leaves is applied to wounds, boils and swellings. It is believed that by keeping roots of this tree in homes, snakes do not enter and keep away. Forest-ethnics often store the roots in their houses for this purpose as observed by their elders.

Preparations

Sobhanjanadi-lep, syamadi-churna, sudarsan-churna, sarva-jwar-hara-lauha (seeds) and sobhanjanadi-kwath.

Flowers : February-April Fruits : April-June