Moringa from Africa

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Comment by mycol stevens on October 6, 2008 at 7:23pm

this tree was from seed that was gifted to me from S. Africa from a friend I met at a permaculture exchange. The planted was specifically requested for me to seek from Michael Adler and Traci now in Oregon...so many of the seeds were gifted to them and should be passed around.
I am happy to see how it will grow after being frozen back hard north in the county where I don't have the urban warming effects of Gainesville. Also fairly drought tolerant. Indigo had a couple for sale...but not many.

Comment by Michael Levin on October 5, 2008 at 3:41pm

According to TreesForLife.org, moringa trees have great potential in combatting extreme poverty and hunger. The nutritious leaves grow quickly, in many different environment types, and can feed people, as well as livestock and sanctuary animals. Surprisingly, the leaves contain complete proteins, which is rare for a plant. And in many developing countries, Moringa is used as a micronutrient powder to aid indigenous diseases.
According to Dr. K. Shaine Tyson of Rocky Mountain Biodiesel Consulting, the defatted meal contains 60% protein, 40% more than soy meal. The high protein leaves can be used as animal fodder and together with the defatted meals, have been shown to increase weight gain in animals by 32% and milk production by 42-55%. The defatted meal can also be used to purify water, settling out sediments and organisms.
Moringa can also provide oil for making biofuels. The seeds contain 30-50% oil, or 112-185 gal/acre/year. The oil contains 65-75% oleic acids and, unlike Jatropha oil, is beneficial for both humans and fuel.
Moringa is drought resistant and can be grown in a wide variety of poor soils, even barren ground, with soil pH between 4.5 and 9.0. The Moringa Oleifera species is said to have originated in the Himalayas, but although the current cultivars can withstand frost, they do not generally survive a hard freeze. It could probably be grown wherever oranges grow successfully.
Moringa holds promise as a sustainable crop which can benefit humans and animals nutritionally, economically and as an energy source.