Moringa Oleifera is a modern day building block for a sustainable future

>Home Page >>Au Natural >>>Natural Resources >>>>Moringa Oleifera

About a year ago, we decided to invest in Moringa tree's, also known as the "Miracle Tree". If you wish, you can click here (opens a new tab) to follow the story - or read on.

As the orchid grows, we are starting to take a few samples of seed pods to get an idea of size and weight of the seeds.

These figures may not apply to every growing region in the world but it will give you a reference point.

Average mass of Moringa Oleifera seeds

With Wings Green - 2 Weeks after Harvest

No Wings De-Shelled (Decorticated)

It was interesting to note that the shell was only about 20% of the total weight. The weight of the wings was negligible.

It was also interesting to note that the difference between the dry seed and the wet seed was also negligible - other than the fact that the wet seed had some green colour and the dry seed was brown, there was no difference.

Average volume of Moringa Oleifera seeds

1 Cup of Shelled Seeds 1 Cup of Seeds after de-shelling

Weight of Shelled Seeds Weight of de-shelled Seeds

These measurements gave us an indication of volume. While the mass of the seeds to shell ratio is about 4:1*, the volume measurements gave us a ratio of 1:3, respectively (1 cup of seeds produces 3 cups of shells)

*4 grams of seeds gives us 1 gram of shells

Average volume of Moringa Oleifera shells after chopping and grinding

We did this test to get an idea of the reduction in volume of the broken shells after the seeds has been extracted.

This was a hand process by using a piece of wood (slightly flexible, like a wooden spoon) and gently pressing on the seed shell until it cracked.

The rest of the process was using our fingers to manually strip away the shell pieces and extract the seed.

Before Chopping

After Chopping

** We used a kitchen blender and the chopped pieces averaged between 0.5 mm and 2 mm.

Had we used something more powerful, like a coffee grinder, we would have achieved much smaller pieces - similar to ground coffee.

But the test did show us that we achieved about 60% reduction in volume. This information is important when considering transport, especially when using (or selling) the ground shells as a mulch and compost addition.

Perfect mulch for your garden. Add it directly to soils and dig it in or add it to your compost heap.

You can of course use the unground shells, but for it to be more effective, rather only add it to your compost heap and allow the shells to break down and soften naturally.

The steps to a sustainable investment

So far, without having to use any serious machinery other than a domestic chopper (which can be skipped out), we have:

• broken shells for our compost heap or chopped shells as a mulch (either of which will be added back to the Moringa Oleifera tree's)
• the de-shelled seeds which will be pressed to produce Moringa oil
• the compressed cake (after oil expelling) can either be chopped/ground to produce a mulch or added directly to the compost heap for natural breakdown (again, this by-product will be added back to the Moringa tree's as a natural compost)

Depending on the market that you wish to sell to, growing and selling Moringa Oleifera offers several options :

Capsules

Young Pods

Ground Leaves

And the really good news

By the time you are finished with all of the above, you next crop will be ready for harvest.

If you are harvesting leaves, you can get 4 to 6 crops per year.

If you are harvesting fresh (immature) pods, you can get 1 to 2 harvests per year.

If you are harvesting mature pods, you will get 1 crop per year.

Invest in Moringa Oleifera

While the likes of Monsanto produce genetically modified foods, only for the sake of profit, we are investing in Moringa Oleifera for the sake of future generations that can invest in sustainable resources.

Moringa Oleifera was used thousands of years ago by ancients cultures like the Egyptians and Romans and its reputation is as good now as it was then.

GM Food companies have only been around for a few decades and already they are dealing with protests, demonstrations, lawsuits and injury.

This article from Permaculture UK reinforces Moringa Oleifera as part of a strategic line of defence in, amongst other benefits, combating nutrient deficiency throughout the world. One of the reasons why you will not find fresh leaves in your local store is because fresh leaves do not store well. All the better to grow your own.

Home

Moringa Oleifera (Back to Top)