A Plant without Limits

        Moringa oleifera, known as moringa or ben, is a species of tree native to northern India. It grows in almost any type of soil, even in conditions of high seasonal aridity, which makes this plant a resource for the populations that inhabit these places.

        It is a deciduous tree. It presents rapid growth, about 3 m in its first year and can reach 5 m in ideal conditions; adult reaches 10 or 12 m maximum height. It has brittle hanging branches, with suberous bark, light green, compound, tripinnate leaves, 30 to 60 cm long, with many small leaflets 1.3 to 2 cm long by 0.6 to 0.3 cm wide . It blooms seven months after planting. The flowers are fragrant, white or creamy white, 2.5 cm in diameter. It produces triangular brown hanging pods, 30 to 120 cm long by 1.8 cm wide, divided longitudinally into 3 parts when dried; each contains approximately twenty seeds embedded in the marrow. Dark brown seeds, with three wings.1 Its rusticity makes it very easy to grow.

        Each 100 g of seed pod contain 86.9 g of water; 2.5 g of protein; 0.1 g of fat, 8.5 g of carbohydrates, fiber 4.8 g, 2.0 g of ash; 30 mg of calcium, 110 mg of phosphorus, 5.3 mg of iron, 184 IU of vitamin A, 0.2 mg of niacin, 120 mg of ascorbic acid, 310 µg of copper and 1.8 µg of iodine. The kernel of the seed contains 38.4 g of crude protein and 34.7% of fatty oil. The seed oil contains 9.3% palmitic acid, 7.4% stearic acid, 8.6% behenic acid and 65.7% oleic acid. Myristic and lignoceric acids have also been reported among fatty acids. The cake after oil extraction contains 58.9% crude protein.

        The leaves contain per 100 g: 75 g of water, 6.7 g of protein, 1.7 g of fat, 14.3 g of carbohydrates, 0.9 g of fiber, 2.3 g of ash, 440 mg calcium, 70 mg phosphorus, 7 mg iron, 110 µg copper, 5.1 µg iodine, 11,300 IU vitamin A, 120 µg vitamin B, 0.8 mg nicotinic acid, 220 mg ascorbic acid, and 7 , 4 mg of tocopherol. Estrogenic substances are found, including the compound β-sitosterol and a pectin esterase.

        The flavor of moringa is pleasant and its parts can be eaten raw, especially the leaves and flowers (which are cream colored and appear mainly in times of drought, when the tree usually loses the leaves) or cooked in various ways (for example in stews). The flowers are rich in carbohydrates and taste good. The leaves can be used to make juices and have a mildly spicy taste (a mix between watercress and radish). It also gives fruit in the form of pods that, being green, can be cooked and have a taste similar to beans or beans, when they are ripe they are boiled with a little salt, they open and the ready-to-eat seeds are extracted, with flavor similar to chickpea and can also be roasted. However, its bitter taste can remain long after consumption. The roots are edible, they look like carrots but with a spicy taste.

        The oil extracted from its seeds has many applications. More than a third of the content of the seeds is high quality oil, rich in unsaturated fatty acids.

        Se puede utilizar en la preparación de ensaladas y como combustible para lámparas. También se cultiva como un importante recurso para fabricar biodiésel de calidad. El cultivo tiene un rendimiento de 2.500 kg/hectárea, produciendo casi 1.500 l de aceite y más de 1.400 l de biodiésel/ha, lo que ha llevado a que su cultivo se investigue en varios lugares del mundo.

        Pods and seeds are useful for water purification. They contain a cationic polyelectrolyte that has been shown to be effective in treatment.

        of water for human consumption (elimination of turbidity), replacing aluminum sulfate or other flocculants23. Moringa seeds contain dimeric cationic proteins4 that absorb and neutralize colloidal charges in cloudy water, causing colloidal particles to clump together, and facilitating their removal by decanting or filtering. The advantage of using these seeds is twofold: it substitutes imported products for an easily accessible local one and, unlike aluminum sulfate, it is completely biodegradable.

        In agriculture, the leaves are useful as compost and as a fungicide against fungi that attack the roots.

        It serves as forage with a long list of beneficial characteristics, since it serves both cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and poultry, among others, where it generates significant increases in performance, both in weight gain and milk production. . Its wood is used as firewood and to make coal or cellulose for high quality paper.

        In Mexico, it is cultivated in the Yaqui Valley and in Nava, Sonora. In Sonora, the ITSON Technological Institute of Sonora has carried out exhaustive scientific studies on the properties of the plant; This university has collaboration agreements with the National Institute of Nutrition of India. Innovative studies on moringa have been carried out at ITSON, among which it can be mentioned. Chitosan hydrogels as a support for the peptide extracted from the moringa oleifera seed in water treatment. Application of chitosan pearls and Moringa oleifera peptide in water treatment. Development and validation of an analytical HPLC method for the quantification of sterols in Moringa oleifera. Characterization of Moringa oleifera seed proteins by electrophoresis and HPLC.

        Moringa oleifera was described by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and published in Encyclopédie Méthodique, Botanique 1 (2): 398. 1785.5

        Moringa: generic name derived from the Malay Muringa (മുരിങ്ങ). Most languages apply a phonetic derivative of this name to refer to the plant. Moringa is also called marango, paradise, white paradise (Central America), Angela, French jasmine (Col., PR), Palo de Abeja (RD), Palo Jeringa (Cuba), Perlas (Guatemala), Terebinto (El Salvador), Jacinto (Panama and Mexico), Reseda (Spain) [appointment required], Ben, Libertad (Venezuela).