Drumstick (Moringa oleifera Lam) is a tropical perennial tree that goes by several names in different parts of the world, including Benzolive, Drumstick tree, kelor, Marango, French Jasmine, Acacia, Sajna, Horse-Radish tree.
It is primarily grown for the fruit (pod), which is a valuable commodity that is used in sambhar, vegetable curries, and pickles, among other dishes. In the same way, leaves can be utilised as a fresh leafy vegetable (better if not wilting) or as a dried leaf powder. It can also be used for windbreaks, green manure, green feed, and hog gum production.
It’s a drought-resistant, fast-growing perennial that adapts well to a variety of environments and farming systems. Almost every component of the tree is edible and has been for a long time. Moringa is grown in Indian states such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka. Many uses of the Moringa tree have been described by Fuglie (1999), including biomass production, animal forage, biogas, domestic cleaning agent, in feeding programmes to combat malnutrition, especially in African countries, as a blue dye, for fencing purposes, as fertiliser, green manure, for gum extraction and honey juice-clarifier, various medicines, as ornamental plantation, as bio-pesticide against seedling damping-off, rope making, tanning hides, and water purification.
