Moringa oleifera-The versatile medicine, nutrition supplement and anti-toxic Moringa oleifera.(முருங்கை).മുരിങ്ങ

Shigru-Moringa oleifera

Since this medicinal plant was in use to treat a variety of diseases since the peroid of Agnivesa, this has been subjected to research by various scientists.

Family : Moringaceae

Scientific name : Moringa oleifera Lam.

VERNACULAR NAMES IN INDIA 

INDIA

(Bengalese): Munga ara, Sajna, Sojna, Sujana

(Gujarati): Midho-saragavo, Saragavo, Saragvo, Suragavo.

(Hindi): Munga ara, Shajmah, Shajna, Segra.

(Hindi/Orissa):  Sanjna, Saijna, Shajna, Soandal

(Kanarese):  Nugga egipa,  Nugge, Noogay, Nuggi Mara.

(Kol): Mulgia, Munga ara, Mungna

(Kumao – Himalayan region):   Sunara

(Konkani/Goa):  Moosing, Mosing

(Malayalam): Sigru, Moringa, Muringa, Murinna, Morunna.

(Marathi): Sujna, Shevga, Shivga.

(Modesia/W. Bengal): Mangnai

(Monghye/Punjab):  Sejana

(Oriya): Munigha, Sajina.

(Punjabese): Sanjina, Soanjana.

(Rajasthan):  Lal Sahinjano

(Sanskrit): Danshamula, Shobhanjana, Sigru Shobhanjan, Sobhan jana.

(Sindhi):  Swanjera

(Tamil): Morunga, Murungai, Murunkak-kai.

(Telegu): Sajana, Tella-Munaga.

(Teling):  Morunga, Morungai

(Urdu):  Sahajna

(Central provinces):  Mulaka,  Saihan

(Western region):  Sundan

ALSO:    Sweta Maricha

Nomenclature in other languages

Sanskrit : Shigru, Shigrujam, Shobanjanam, Aksheeva, Mochaka, Teekshnagandha

Hindi : Sonjan

Bengali : Shajina

Tamil : Murungakkai

Telugu : Manuga

English : Drumstick tree

Distribution : Seen distributed all over India.

Botanical description :

It is a tree that grows upto 5-10m with branches and sub branches. The trunk is not too strong, it is greyish green in colour. The leaves are compound , tripinnate and are about 0.3-0.7m long. The leaves and leaflets are opposite. Flowers are seen in clusters.They are bisexual. They are filled with honey and are white in colour. Sepals are five, petals five, Stamen 5+5. The outer most stamen are sterile. The fruits are 25-50 cm long and are hanging downwards. The seeds are like paper.

Chemical constituents :

The root contains a volatile oil. The bark contains Moringin, Moreinginine alkaloids. Leaves contain plenty of Vitamin A and C. The seed also contains a special type of oil which can be extracted.

Ayurvedic Pharmacopeia :

Rasa : katu, kashaya, tikta

Guna : laghu, rooksha, teekshna, sara

Veerya : ushna

Vipaka : katu

Medicinal uses :

Reduces swelling. Leaf regulates blood pressure. Bark and roots enhance sweating and reduce pain. Oil extracted from seeds alleiviate vata roga. It cures abdominal worms, ulcers, poisoning.

Useful parts : roots, bark, leaves, fruit, flowers.

Therapeutic single drug usage :

-the dried powder of seeds of moringa if inhaled cures headache, migraines and facial palsies and other disorders of kapha

-the oil extratced from the seeds of moringa cures amavata, joint pain, osteoarthritis if applied extrenally

-for the painful swellings that occur in the joints the paste of moringa mixed with rock salt cures it

-the decoction of roots of moringa are useful in abdominal pain due to mensus, intestinal worms, inflammations of colon, blockage of urinary bladder by stone etc

-3gm-6gm of moringa if taken thrice daily  avoiding salt regulates blood pressure

-seeds of moringa mixed with cows milk when taken regularly cures premature ejaculation

-for hernia the decoction of roots of moringa thrice daily for three days alleiviates it

-for the accumulation of phlegm in the lungs in pneumonia, decoction prepared out of 3 parts of moringa and 1 part of carum carvi and mixing it with an ayurvedic tablet called Dhanwantaram pills 2 in number cures it

Nutritional Importance of Moringa.

Many parts of the moringa are edible. Regional uses of the moringa as food vary widely, and include:

·         The immature seed pods, called "drumsticks", popular in Asia and Africa.

·         Leaves, particularly in the Cambodia, Philippines, South India, Sri Lanka and Africa.

·         Mature seeds

·         Oil pressed from the mature seeds

·         Roots

In some regions, the young seed pods are most commonly eaten,^[21] while in others, the leaves are the most commonly used part of the plant. The flowers are edible when cooked and are said to taste like mushrooms. The bark, sap, roots, leaves, seeds, oil, and flowers are used in traditional medicine in several countries. In Jamaica, the sap is used for a blue dye.

Leaves

Nutritional content of 100g fresh M. oleifera leaves (about 5 cups) is shown in the table (right; USDA data), while other studies of nutrient values are available.

Sonjna (Moringa oleifera) leaves with flowers in Kolkata, West Bengal,India

The leaves are the most nutritious part of the plant, being a significant source of B vitamins, vitamin C, provitamin A as beta-carotene,vitamin K, manganese and protein, among other essential nutrients.^[24][25] When compared with common foods particularly high in certain nutrients per 100 g fresh weight, cooked moringa leaves are considerable sources of these same nutrients. Some of the calcium in moringa leaves is bound as crystals of calcium oxalate^[26] though at levels 25-45 times less than that found in spinach, which is a negligible amount.

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 used in soups and sauces. As with most foods, heating moringa above 140 degrees Fahrenheit destroys some of the nutritional value.

Drumsticks

An Indian drumstick

The immature seed pods, called "drumsticks", are commonly consumed in South Asia. They are prepared by parboiling, and cooked in a curry until soft.^[27] The seed pods/fruits, even when cooked by boiling, remain particularly high in vitamin C^[28] (which may be degraded variably by cooking) and are also a good source of dietary fiber, potassium, magnesium and manganese.

Seeds

The seeds, sometimes removed from more mature pods and eaten like peas or roasted like nuts, contain high levels of vitamin C and moderate amounts of B vitamins and dietary minerals (right table, USDA).

Seed oil

Mature seeds yield 38–40% edible oil called ben oil from its high concentration of behenic acid. The refined oil is clear and odorless, and resists rancidity. The seed cake remaining after oil extraction may be used as a fertilizer or as a flocculent to purify water. Moringa seed oil also has potential for use as a biofuel.

Roots

The roots are shredded and used as a condiment with sharp flavor qualities deriving from significant content of polyphenols.

Malnutrition relief

Moringa trees have been used to combat malnutrition, especially among infants and nursing mothers. FiveNGOs in particular — Trees for Life International, The Christian and Missionary Alliance, Church World Service, Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, and Volunteer Partnerships for West Africa — have advocated moringa as "natural nutrition for the tropics." One author stated that "the nutritional properties of Moringa are now so well known that there seems to be little doubt of the substantial health benefit to be realized by consumption of Moringa leaf powder in situations where starvation is imminent."

Moringa is especially promising as a food source in the tropics because the tree is in full leaf at the end of the dry season when other foods are typically scarce.^[33] Furthermore, since Moringa thrives in arid and semi-arid environments, it is particularly well-suited for consumption during dry seasons.

Moringa oleifera pods, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	37 kcal (150 kJ)
Carbohydrates	8.53 g
Dietary fiber	3.2 g
Fat	0.20 g
Protein	2.10 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv.	(1%) 4 μg
Thiamine (B1)	(5%) 0.0530 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	(6%) 0.074 mg
Niacin (B3)	(4%) 0.620 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)	(16%) 0.794 mg
Vitamin B6	(9%) 0.120 mg
Folate (B9)	(11%) 44 μg
Vitamin C	(170%) 141.0 mg
Trace metals
Calcium	(3%) 30 mg
Iron	(3%) 0.36 mg
Magnesium	(13%) 45 mg
Manganese	(12%) 0.259 mg
Phosphorus	(7%) 50 mg
Potassium	(10%) 461 mg
Sodium	(3%) 42 mg
Zinc	(5%) 0.45 mg
Other constituents
Water	88.20 g
·         Units ·         μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams ·         IU = International units
Percentages are roughly approximated usingUS recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Phytochemistry

Phytochemicals are, in the strictest sense of the word, chemicals produced by plants. Commonly, though, the word refers to only those chemicals which may have an impact on health, or on flavor, texture, smell, or color of the plants, but are not required by humans as essential nutrients. An examination of the phytochemicals of Moringa species affords the opportunity to examine a range of fairly unique compounds. In particular, this plant family is rich in compounds containing the simple sugar, rhamnose, and it is rich in a fairly unique group of compounds called glucosinolates and isothiocyanates (10,38). For example, specific components of Moringa preparations that have been reported to have hypotensive, anticancer, and antibacterial activity include 4-(4'-O-acetyl-a-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)benzyl isothiocyanate [1], 4-(a-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)benzyl isothiocyanate [2], niazimicin [3], pterygospermin [4], benzyl isothiocyanate [5], and 4-(a-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)benzyl glucosinolate [6]. While these compounds are relatively unique to the Moringa family, it is also rich in a number of vitamins and minerals as well as other more commonly recognized phytochemicals such as the carotenoids (including b-carotene or pro-vitamin A). These attributes are all discussed extensively by Lowell Fuglie (47) and others, and will be the subject of a future review in this series.

(Click to enlarge)

Figure 1. Structures of selected phytochemicals from Moringa spp.: 4-(4'-O-acetyl-a-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)benzyl isothiocyanate [1], 4-(-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)benzyl isothiocyanate [2], niazimicin [3], pterygospermin [4], benzyl isothiocyanate [5], and 4-(a-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)benzyl glucosinolate [6].

Disease Treatment and Prevention

The benefits for the treatment or prevention of disease or infection that may accrue from either dietary or topical administration of Moringa preparations (e.g. extracts, decoctions, poultices, creams, oils, emollients, salves, powders, porridges) are not quite so well known (116). Although the oral history here is also voluminous, it has been subject to much less intense scientific scrutiny, and it is useful to review the claims that have been made and to assess the quality of evidence available for the more well-documented claims. The readers of this review are encouraged to examine two recent papers that do an excellent job of contrasting the dilemma of balancing evidence from complementary and alternative medicine (e.g. traditional medicine, tribal lore, oral histories and anecdotes) with the burden of proof required in order to make sound scientific judgments on the efficacy of these traditional cures (138,154). Clearly much more research is justified, but just as clearly this will be a very fruitful field of endeavor for both basic and applied researchers over the next decade.

Widespread claims of the medicinal effectiveness of various Moringa tree preparations have encouraged the author and his colleagues at The Johns Hopkins University to further investigate some of these possibilities. A plethora of traditional medicine references attest to its curative power, and scientific validation of these popular uses is developing to support at least some of the claims. Moringa preparations have been cited in the scientific literature as having antibiotic, antitrypanosomal, hypotensive, antispasmodic, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, hypocholesterolemic, and hypoglycemic activities, as well as having considerable efficacy in water purification by flocculation, sedimentation, antibiosis and even reduction of Schistosome cercariae titer (see Table 1).

Unfortunately, many of these reports of efficacy in human beings are not supported by placebo controlled, randomized clinical trials, nor have they been published in high visibility journals. For example, on the surface a report published almost 25 years ago (141) appears to establish Moringa as a powerful cure for urinary tract infection, but it provides the reader with no source of comparison (no control subjects). Thus, to the extent to which this is antithetical to Western medicine, Moringa has not yet been and will not be embraced by Western-trained medical practitioners for either its medicinal or nutritional properties.

In many cases, published in-vitro (cultured cells) and in-vivo (animal) trials do provide a degree of mechanistic support for some of the claims that have sprung from the traditional medicine lore. For example, numerous studies now point to the elevation of a variety of detoxication and antioxidant enzymes and biomarkers as a result of treatment with Moringa or with phytochemicals isolated from Moringa (39,40,76,131). I shall briefly introduce antibiosis and cancer prevention as just two examples of areas of Moringa research for which the existing scientific evidence appears to be particularly strong.

Antibiotic Activity. This is clearly the area in which the preponderance of evidence—both classical scientific and extensive anecdotal evidence—is overwhelming. The scientific evidence has now been available for over 50 years, although much of it is completely unknown to western scientists. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s a team from the University of Bombay (BR Das), Travancore University (PA Kurup), and the Department of Biochemistry at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore (PLN Rao), identified a compound they called pterygospermin [4] a compound which they reported readily dissociated into two molecules of benzyl isothiocyanate [5] (23,24,25,26,77,78,79,80,81,108). Benzyl isothiocyanate was already understood at that time to have antimicrobial properties. This group not only identified pterygospermin, but performed extensive and elegant characterization of its mode of antimicrobial action in the mid 1950’s. (They identified the tree from which they isolated this substance as “Moringa pterygosperma,” now regarded as an archaic designation for “M. oleifera.”) Although others were to show that pterygospermin and extracts of the Moringa plants from which it was isolated were antibacterial against a variety of microbes, the identity of pterygospermin has since been challenged (34) as an artifact of isolation or structural determination.

Subsequent elegant and very thorough work, published in 1964 as a PhD thesis by Bennie Badgett (a student of the well known chemist Martin Ettlinger), identified a number of glyosylated derivatives of benzyl isothiocyanate [5] (e.g. compounds containing the 6-carbon simple sugar, rhamnose) (8). The identity of these compounds was not available in the refereed scientific literature until “re-discovered” 15 years later by Kjaer and co-workers (73). Seminal reports on the antibiotic activity of the primary rhamnosylated compound then followed, from U Eilert and colleagues in Braunschweig,Germany (33,34). They re-isolated and confirmed the identity of 4-(a-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)benzyl glucosinolate [6] and its cognate isothiocyanate [2] and verified the activity of the latter compound against a wide range of bacteria and fungi.

Extensive field reports and ecological studies (see Table 1) forming part of a rich traditional medicine history, claim efficacy of leaf, seed, root, bark, and flowers against a variety of dermal and internal infections. Unfortunately, many of the reports of antibiotic efficacy in humans are not supported by placebo controlled, randomized clinical trials. Again, in keeping with Western medical prejudices, practitioners may not be expected to embrace Moringa for its antibiotic properties. In this case, however, the in-vitro (bacterial cultures) and observational studies provide a very plausible mechanistic underpinning for the plethora of efficacy claims that have accumulated over the years (see Table 1).

Aware of the reported antibiotic activity of [2], [5], and other isothiocyanates and plants containing them, we undertook to determine whether some of them were also active as antibiotics against Helicobacter pylori. This bacterium was not discovered until the mid-1980’s, a discovery for which the 2005 Nobel Prize in Medicine was just awarded. H. pylori is an omnipresent pathogen of human beings in medically underserved areas of the world, and amongst the poorest of poor populations worldwide. It is a major cause of gastritis, and of gastric and duodenal ulcers, and it is a major risk factor for gastric cancer (having been classified as a carcinogen by the W.H.O. in 1993). Cultures of H. pylori, it turned out, were extraordinarily susceptible to [2], and to a number of other isothiocyanates (37,60). These compounds had antibiotic activity against H. pylori at concentrations up to 1000-fold lower than those which had been used in earlier studies against a wide range of bacteria and fungi. The extension of this finding to human H. pylori infection is now being pursued in the clinic, and the prototypical isothiocyanate has already demonstrated some efficacy in pilot studies (49,168).

Cancer Prevention. Since Moringa species have long been recognized by folk medicine practitioners as having value in tumor therapy (61), we examined compounds [1] and [2] for their cancer preventive potential (39). Recently, [1] and the related compound [3] were shown to be potent inhibitors of phorbol ester (TPA)-induced Epstein-Barr virus early antigen activation in lymphoblastoid (Burkitt’s lymphoma) cells (57,104). In one of these studies, [3] also inhibited tumor promotion in a mouse two-stage DMBA-TPA tumor model (104). In an even more recent study, Bharali and colleagues have examined skin tumor prevention following ingestion of drumstick (Moringa seedpod) extracts (12). In this mouse model, which included appropriate positive and negative controls, a dramatic reduction in skin papillomas was demonstrated.

Thus, traditional practice has long suggested that cancer prevention and therapy may be achievable with native plants. Modern practitioners have used crude extracts and isolated bioactive compounds. The proof required by modern medicine has not been realized because neither the prevention of cancer nor the modification of relevant biomarkers of the protected state has been adequately demonstrated in human subjects. Does this mean that it doesn’t work? No. It may well work, but more rigorous study is required in order to achieve a level of proof required for full biomedical endorsement of Moringa as, in this case, a cancer preventative plant.