Moringa, scientifically known as Moringa oleifera Lam, has suddenly become popular during the pandemic. The community highly seeks after the small-leaved plant.

In East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the provincial government has launched a movement to promote moringa planting and requires the community to consume it. It follows the new knowledge that moringa benefits pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. In NTT, moringa is also given to school-age children.

Considering the health benefits of moringa leaves, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has requested in-depth research on moringa. The minister hoped that moringa could become a traditional Indonesian herbal medicine that could penetrate the global market and compete with ginseng from South Korea.

"I want to balance it like Korean ginseng, conducting serious research to enter the international arena," he said, as quoted from the Sehat Negeriku website on Monday, 6 February 2023.

Not only as herbal medicine, it also has the potential to become an alternative food source, especially for addressing hunger issues in remote areas of NTT. Moreover, it is known to be rich in nutrients.

"So, we will make moringa as one of Indonesia's traditional and herbal foods, and we will conduct formal research. We support the research to be accepted internationally," said Health Minister.

What makes moringa so miraculous, nicknamed "the miracle tree" by the World Health Organization (WHO)? What also makes the government hopeful that moringa can compete with Korean ginseng? To prove these claims, researcher Ridwan from the Center for Horticulture and Plantation Research of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) revealed some facts.

According to him, the moringa tree, classified under the genus Moringaceae, originates from the Himalayas' foothills, including Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Nowadays, the plant is widely distributed and extensively cultivated, especially in tropical regions.

In addition to being processed as food, moringa can also be processed as an herbal mixture. The vitamin and mineral content in moringa is proven to meet the daily nutritional needs of the body. In fact, its calcium content exceeds that of animal milk.

"The calcium content of moringa is higher than other plants, even compared to cow's milk. Despite cow's milk being known as the main source of calcium for humans," said Ridwan, as quoted from the BRIN website on Thursday, 9 March 2023.

Based on several works of literatures, Ridwan, who holds a doctorate from Bogor Agricultural Institute, also revealed that the average calcium content in cow's milk is 143mg/100g, while the calcium content in dried moringa leaves can be up to 17 times higher. Ridwan has analyzed and compared the calcium content of moringa leaves from several regions in Indonesia. The results showed that some samples have calcium content up to 21 times higher, reaching 3,000mg/100g.

The high nutritional benefits of moringa have led the NTT Provincial Government to require its community, especially pregnant and lactating mothers, to consume moringa. The plant also contains a relatively high protein content, around 25% - 34%, equivalent to the protein content in legumes. However, it has not surpassed the protein content in soybeans, which reaches 36%.

Bioactive Compound Content

According to Ridwan's publications, the utilization of moringa has significantly increased in recent years, be it as food ingredients, medicines, or cosmetics. It may be due to the growing knowledge of moringa's nutritional content and pharmaceutical potential.

In addition to containing calcium and protein, moringa also contains various secondary metabolite compounds that function as antibacterial, antioxidant, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-obesity, and anti-cholesterol agents. Moreover, secondary metabolite compounds have other functions, such as being attractants (attracting pollinators); providing protection against environmental stress, pests or diseases (phytoalexins), and ultraviolet radiation; and being growth regulators.

Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds that have been extensively studied and used in health.

Moringa Cultivation Methods

Moringa is very easy to cultivate. It can be propagated vegetatively by stem cuttings or generatively by seeds. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages.

Propagating by stem cuttings can result in faster leaf and fruit production. However, in intensive and extensive cultivation efforts, the availability of stem cuttings as propagation material may be an issue.

The stems used for cuttings with a high probability of success must meet several criteria: not too old or too young, one meter long, and 5-10 cm in diameter.

The disadvantage is that the roots formed through the stem-cutting method are not very strong, making them prone to falling. In contrast, seed propagation is more applicable for intensive cultivation, as the viability of seeds is relatively high. The roots that will form are strong, and the planting is easier.

The harvesting period for leaves is relatively fast (from three to four months after planting). However, fruit production requires a longer time, around 1.5-2 years, depending on the environmental conditions of growth.

Moringa plant care is not too difficult. It requires sufficient watering without causing waterlogging. In Indonesia, moringa is distributed almost throughout the islands and has another potential, which is to obtain superior genotype variability with high leaf biomass production and flavonoid content.

"My team and I have conducted experimental planting of moringa in ten islands in Indonesia, namely Sumatra, Java, Madura, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua, in polybags with a capacity of ten kg," explained Ridwan.

BRIN's research showed that Sumatra accession has the highest leaf biomass production combined with the highest total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity. "Sumatra accession is recommended as an excellent accession for cultivation to produce flavonoids," explained Ridwan.

Thus, a series of evidence has shown that moringa is a miraculous plant and can compete with globally renowned ginseng. The movement to consume moringa should be supported, as it can become an alternative effort for self-sufficiency in food production.

Writer: Kristantyo Wisnubroto
Editors: Ratna Nuraini/Elvira Inda Sari/Erik Limantara
Translator: Irvina Falah