Drumstick Seeds

The moringa tree is a fast-growing, drought-tolerant tree with feathery leaves and long, slender, ridged pods, which in India are known as drumsticks. Each pod can be thirty to fifty centimetres long and contains numerous seeds in a soft white pith.

The seeds are round, about the size of a small pea or chickpea, with a brown to blackish papery coat that extends into three thin wings. Young seeds are green and tender, with a soft texture and a mild pea- or peanut-like flavour. Mature seeds are firmer, oily and bitter, and are sold dried for planting, for oil pressing or as supplements. The kernels are white and oily.

Moringa oleifera is native to the sub-Himalayan foothills of northern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, and was taken into cultivation very early in South Asia. It has since spread to tropical and subtropical regions across Africa, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America.

The word moringa comes from the Tamil murungai or the Malayalam muringa, which refers to the twisted or curled pods. The species name oleifera means oil-bearing, a reference to the seeds, which yield ben oil. The name ben itself comes from an ancient Arabic word, ban, and was long used for the oil, and also for related trees.

Moringa has been grown in India for thousands of years, and drumstick pods are a cornerstone of South Indian cooking, especially in sambar and curries. Ayurvedic texts describe various parts of the tree, and it is known there as shigru. Different parts of the plant have been used in traditional medicine in India, Africa and the Philippines.

Ben oil, pressed from the seeds, was known to the ancient Egyptians and later to Greeks and Romans, who used it as a perfume base and for cosmetics, because it resists rancidity and carries scent well. The oil was also used to lubricate fine machinery such as watches in more recent centuries. The tree travelled with traders and colonists, and it became established in many tropical countries.

In recent decades, moringa has been promoted by development organisations and health-food companies as a nutritious and resilient crop, especially its leaves and seeds. The crushed seed cake has been tested for use as a natural water clarifier, because proteins in it bind to particles in turbid water, and this practice is used in some rural communities, although it does not replace proper disinfection. The seeds are now sold as a food, as oil and in supplements worldwide.

Immature seeds inside tender pods are cooked in curries, soups and stews, and eaten by scraping the soft seeds and pulp from the pod with the teeth. Mature seeds can be roasted and eaten in small amounts, though their taste is somewhat bitter, and they are pressed to make ben oil, a pale, stable oil used for cooking, cosmetics, perfumery and hair and skin care.

The press cake left after extracting oil is used as a natural coagulant to help clear cloudy water in some places, and as fertiliser. Dried seeds are also sold for sowing, as the tree grows quickly from seed.

Moringa seeds contain protein, oil rich in oleic acid, and compounds such as glucosinolates and isothiocyanates, which have been investigated in laboratory and animal studies for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. Moringa leaves are the better-studied part, and human trials on any part of the tree are small and few.

Ben oil is stable and nourishing for skin, but claims about seeds treating blood sugar, blood pressure or cholesterol should be treated as preliminary. Seeds are best seen as a traditional food and not a proven therapy.