Moringa

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Moringa

Moringa is the only genus

Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
in the family

Family

Family denotes a group of people affiliated by a common ancestry, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some cultural anthropology have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts r...
Moringaceae. This genus comprises 13 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
, all of which are trees that grow in tropical and sub-tropical

Subtropics

For information on the American literary journal, see Subtropics The subtropics are the Geographical zone of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropics zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitude 23.5? north and south....
climates. The taxon name moringa comes from the Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has Official language in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore....
/Malayalam

Malayalam language

Malayalam is a Dravidian language used predominantly in the States and territories of India of Kerala, in South India India. It is one of the 22 List of national languages of India, and it is used by around 36 million people....
word murungakkAi. In Gujarati

Gujarati language

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan languages, and part of the greater Indo-European languages language family. It is native to the Indian state of Gujarat, and is its chief language, as well as of the adjacent union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli....
it is called Saragvo.

The most popular species is Moringa oleifera
Moringa oleifera

Moringa oleifera, commonly referred to simply as Moringa , , is the most widely cultivated variety of the genus Moringa. It is of the family Moringaceae....
, a multi-purpose tree originally from Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 States and territories of India of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai . Tamil Nadu lies in the southern most part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by Puducherry , Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh....
/Kerala

Kerala

Kerala is a Indian Union States and territories of India located in the southwestern part of India. With an Arabian Sea coastline on the west, it is bordered on the north by Karnataka and by Tamil Nadu on the south and east....
state of India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, which is what is commonly referred to when the name Moringa is used.

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Encyclopedia

Moringa is the only genus

Genus

Family

Species

Subtropics

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has Official language in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore....
/Malayalam

Malayalam language

Gujarati language

Tamil Nadu

Kerala

India

Tropics

The Tropics, seated in the equatorial regions of the world, are limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23?26' N latitude, and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23?26' S latitude....
. The Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
n variety Moringa stenopetala, is also widely grown, but to a much lesser extent than Moringa oleifera.

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 fight 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.

Moringa

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