DRUMSTICK | MORINGA :
Health Benefits, Nutrition, Uses, Recipes And Side Effects
The rich culinary tradition of our country has helped us to relish and taste several types of vegetables and fruits thereby derive out the umpteen health benefits. One such amazing vegetable that is greatly valued and earns our interest is drumstick or moringa oleifera.
Moringa obtains its name from the Tamil word, murungai, denotes twisted pod. This humble vegetable is used extensively in Indian culinary dishes for more than a hundred years. Be it delectable sambhar or avail, or any meat curry, soups, pickles etc., drumstick renders its unique flavour to the dishes.
Moringa oleifera or drumstick, a drought-resistant tree belongs to the family Moringaceae. It is native to tropical regions of South Asia and India is the largest producer of the drumstick with an annual production of 1-1.3 million tonnes of fruits.
Moringa goes by several common names such as drumstick tree (refers to the long, slender, seed-pods), horseradish tree (refers to the root which is similar to horseradish), and ben oil tree (refers to oil which obtained from the seed).
Drumstick is a fast-growing tree and widely cultivated for its tender seed pod, leaves used as vegetable heaped with vital nutrients and as a medicine in Siddha for its indispensable medicinal properties.
Moringa, a slender, deciduous tree grows to a height to 10-12 m and a trunk diameter of 45cm. Young shoots have purplish hairy bark and drooping branches that are fragile, and leaves look like feathery foliage of tripinnate. The aromatic flowers are surrounded by five unevenly, thinly veined yellowish-white petals. Generally, the tree begins to flower after six months of the plantation. In a seasonal climate with good rainfall, flowering can happen twice or all-round the year.
The fruit looks like a three-sided brown capsule with a dark brown globular seed with three whitish papery wings which gets diapered by wind and water. Moringa is a sun-loving plant that can withstand the dry climate and can be grown using very minimal irrigation.
Drumstick is also known by several vernacular names such as shevaga in Marathi, shajan in Hindi, murungai in Tamil, muringnga in Malayalam and munagakaya in Telugu. Drumstick is highly prized as every single part of the tree is valued and used as a superfood that beat chronic diseases or as a vital component in traditional medicine. The drumstick tree is imbedded with profuse nutrients and antioxidants that offers you with a plethora of wellness incentives.
Nutritional Facts
Drumstick pods and leaves are a storehouse of essential nutrients, whereas the leaves are the most nutrient part of the plant and one of the finest sources of calcium, iron, zinc, selenium and magnesium. Fresh pods and seeds are a great source of oleic acid, a healthy fatty acid which is known to promote heart health. Moringa leaves is unique among all the greens as it is heaped with a good amount of protein about 9.8 gram of protein per 100 grams. Dry powdered leaves are an amazing source of good quality essential amino acids.
Nutritional Value Of Drumstick Per 100 grams
Energy 64 kcal
Carbohydrates 8.28 g
Dietary fibre 2.0 g
Fat 1.40 g
Protein 9.40 g
Vitamins:
Vitamin A 378 μg
Thiamine (B1) 0.257 mg
Riboflavin (B2) 0.660 mg
Niacin (B3) 2.220 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.125 mg
Vitamin B6 1.2 mg
Folate (B9) 40 μg
Vitamin C 51.7 mg
Minerals:
Calcium 185 mg
Iron 4.00 mg
Magnesium 147 mg
Manganese 0.36 mg
Phosphorus 112 mg
Potassium 337 mg
Sodium 9 mg
Zinc 0.6 mg
