Maiden Issue  n  September 2007

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Malunggay, the wonderful tree

FOR quite sometime, I have writ-ten articles about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and a soon-to-emerge industry, biofuels.

From here on, I intend to inform readers on the other facets of biotechnology.  This time, my subject of interest is malunggay.  Its scientific name is Moringa oleifera Lam, belonging to family Moringgacae and this tree is a native of India.  This crop is also known as a horse radish tree. It may have been called as horse radish tree because the roots of young seedlings exude the smell of radish, and not only that, the shape of the malunggay seedlings is that of a radish.

I dare say that soon, everybody will love malunggay.  Not many among us know that this tree, whose foliage and immature fruits we consume as a vegetable, is perhaps the most nutritious vegetable available on the planet.  My readings had revealed that malunggay has seven times the vitamin C in oranges, four times the calcium in milk, four times the vitamin A in carrots, two times the protein in milk, and three times the potassium in bananas.

Apart from the nutritional qualities of malunggay, in India, this crop has many uses.  In the article of  Rajangam., Manavalan, et al (2001) malunggay has many medicinal uses, among them are (a) fresh root of the young tree is administered in cases of in intermittent fever, (b) infusion of the roots is recommended for asthma, and is useful in ascites caused by diseases of the liver and spleen, (c) freshly expressed juice from the root bark and the gum is mixed with sesamum oil and is dropped into the ears in cases of otalgia, (c) the tender leaves reduce phlegm and are administered internally for scurvy and catarrhal conditions, (d) flowers, irritant in action, are used to heal inflammation of tendons and abscesses, (e) unripe pods act as a preventive against intestinal worms, and (f) fruit is sweet and pungent in taste, an appetizer preventing eye disorders and increasing semen both qualitatively and quantitatively, and many others.
 

Growing of Malunggay. Malunggay is grown in our country as a backyard tree.  Malunggay is very famous in the northern provinces of the Philippines.  This tree vegetable crop would always be a part of the daily diet of the Ilocanos. The Ilocanos would cook young foliage and immature fruits while those coming from other regions would only eat leaves.

Growing malunggay is viewed as relatively easy or very easy.  Just dig in a mature branch of malunggay and in two to three weeks’ time, young shoots will emerge.  This asexual method of propagation is the most popular technique of propagating malunggay.  Let it be known also that malunggay can also be propagated through seeds.  It takes 5 to 7 days before a seed germinates.

What we have on available literature, Nicaragua has an existing growing technology of malunggay for foliage and seed production. These are two distinct technologies.  I, for one, was surprised to learn that for foliage production, using seeds as the planting material, the planting distance between hills is 10 centimeters. What 10 centimeters?  How do I pass between rows with this distance?  After settling for a while, I was thinking of a malunggay tree and not a seedling.  So that is it, for foliage production, 10 centimetres apart, and you only maintain the plant for the next six months as you harvest foliage two months after planting and every month thereafter till the sixth month of growing.

Question. Why do we grow malunggay for seeds? There are several reasons. First, for seed production that will be used as planting material and second, seeds for industrial use.  Seeds of malunggay are usually used for water filtration; it has the ability to absorb odor, and other substances or contaminants in water. The seeds are also a good source of oil, which can be used as lubricants or for cosmetics.

Recently, the Department of Agriculture (DA) through the DA Biotechnology Program, entered into agreement with a private industry, where the DA shall develop an appropriate culture and management technology for malunggay foliage and seed production. Although many would say that it is easy to grow malunggay, it is our belief that we have yet to establish and generate our own technology to grow and propagate malunggay.

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) had prepared a research proposal using the Nicaraguan growing technology as control to come up with a new technology that adapts to our environment. After that proposal, things happened so fast that, finally, the culture and management experiment had been laid out in Tarlac City in cooperation with DA Regional Field Unit III. At the moment, the seeds had just germinated and were unfortunately timed during the typhoon Egay.
 

What to Expect? In due time, barring weather disturbances, we shall be able to come up with a foliage production technology.  With this technology, interested farmers can use the technology while the DA works in bridging the production to the industry user of malunggay. The seed production technology would take a longer time, considering that we are talking of a seed-to-seed cycle.

In the meantime, the BPI had developed simple kitchen processing techniques to produce dry leaves as preserved vegetable, tea for beverage, and soon, malunggay bread sticks and noodles.  I shall keep you informed of the latest development we shall accomplish in this malunggay research project that we have.

Dr. Vivencio Mamaril is a member of the Bureau of Plant Industry Biotech Core Team.

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