Moringa oleifera: a feed for food

Moringa oleifera can already be used not only as a food for the people but also as a feed supplement for other animals. Nowadays, Moringa stems from its potential to address malnutrition problems worldwide. Yet, how can a Moringa leaf powder supplement affect the lives of humans and animals?

Significance of a substance

Moringa oleifera or another tree of life popularly known as malunggay or ‘kalamunggay’ for the natives, is not new to the Philippine vicinity. In fact, natives labeled it as “kadautan sa pobre” (poor man’s veggie). Filipino farmers and different households commonly grow this kind of vegetable tree, especially that it is also one of the most nutritious vegetable crops.

However, others consider it as a lowly crop among growers and consumers alike because not everyone knows its actual importance. In spite its myriad uses, vast availability, low cost production and chemical or nutritious components, commercial utilization of malunggay in the country was less looked into. As a proof, three Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students recently concluded in their study on Moringa oleifera that “there is still no serious commercial production of malunggay in the Philippines”. Not much attention was given to the previously proven and published uses of malunggay which can be integrated into local production practices.

But as time passes by, interest on the abundantly growing malunggay tree and its many uses, particularly as a food in the Philippine setting, is now being given nationwide attention while spreading its significance all around the world. Even with the advent of widespread commercialism and market competitions, there are still those who survive through traditional plant growing and livestock raising as their way of living, just like Mrs. Carmen (57 years old) and Mr. Gaudioso Roa (62 years old). The couple are locals of Barangay Nazareth, Cagayan de Oro City. They prefer to raise chickens, sell its eggs and grow vegetables/crops, fruits, and spices in their household.

Furthermore, Carmen grows vegetables/crops (malunggay, onion, garlic, eggplant, tomato, lutya, potatoes, etc.), fruits (mango, star apple, guava, tambis, etc.), and spices (chilli and laurel) in their backyard. She sells them in their store at Nazareth and even at the streets of Cagayan de Oro’s Cogon market. “Dili mi gakagutom bisag walay halin among baligya kay naa man miy mga gulay na dali ra lutuon, okay na bahalg sinabawang malunggay butangan lang dayon og panakot, lami na! ”, Carmen shared.

Meanwhile, Gaudioso is responsible for raising their chickens and selling its eggs. “Naa koy anak na laki nga ga-tabang og alima sakong 26 ka manok karon. Electric engineer ko pero sa balay rako gapundo ky gahulat raman kog on-call o contrata kung naay mga proyekto, usahay dili sad nako mabyaan akong mga manok ky nakoy gitakda na oras para bahogan sila, unya dili man sad ko mabalaka pagbaligya sa mga itlog kay naa man mi tindahan og mao raman sad akong kalingawan,” Gaudioso said. “Tungod sa akong mga mabaligya, bawi-bawi raman pud ang akong ga-igasto para sakong mga manok, dili man pud pwede na dili nako palitan og bahog o feeds ky kailangan man gyud na para mudako, mutambok og mabaskog ang mga manok”, he also shared. “Usahay kulangon akong kwarta kay mahal bya pud nang bahog sa manok, diba pwede man mais isagol sa feeds? Busa gisulayan nako sauna og sagol ang kalamunggay sa bahog sakong mga manok. Kaluoy sa Diyos, wala man poy nahitabo nila og murag mao ra man gyapon ang resulta - baskog og nangdagko.

CDO’s chickens and malunggays

As trade costs of goods, products and services continuously increase, food and feed crisis also rise. Consequently, the society is already spelling out solutions. And while they are trying to discover a new way to fight many problems, there has already been an answer for the lacking food security since the day living creatures started to eat plants.

In Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan, a research program known as “Moringa Beyond Nutrition” was conducted to solve food and feed concerns. “It was designed to come-up with a pilot scale planning and a package of technology that would utilize malunggay products benefiting farmers and consumers without heavy dependence of a contract buyer”, explained Sir Floro V. Dalapag, a researcher and assistant professor at the College of Agriculture’s Department of Agricultural Sciences. One of his studies was entitled, “The Use of Moringa Leaf Powder as a Feed Supplement for Layer Chickens (Gallus domesticus) at Manresa Experimental Station”.¹ According to Dalapag, “it aims to create an alternative utilization scheme of Moringa oleifera through the numerous facilities and resources of the college.” Luckily, the research project was made possible when Manresa Experimental Department of Agricultural Sciences (MEDAS) had an existing newly established chicken layer project with forty layers.

Aside from what Dalapag explained, the study was conducted to also determine the effect of a 10% Moringa leaf powder supplement to layer chickens on the rate of egg production and egg quality such as egg weight and weight of its components (shell, egg white and yolk). Chicken dung analysis and feed waste monitoring were also done to generate the package of technology for adoption. Analysis of available data for the period of March 2 to May 22, 2009 showed non-significant differences on the egg production rate of layer chickens supplemented with 10% Moringa leaf meal and those fed with regular layer mash. Thus, Dalapag concluded that “Moringa leaf meal can be a potential alternative feed additive for chicken layers to reduce total amount of commercial feed used.”

Philippines’ projects to progress

In the Philippines, the Department of Agriculture (DA) continuously conducts a series of Malunggay Forum to promote its production nationwide. Meanwhile, the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology has recently dubbed malunggay as a “miracle fruit”. The Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) also included it as one of the crop commodities to be showcased in BAR’s “Indigenous Plants for Health and Wellness Programs.”

Furthermore, there was an establishment of the Biotechnology Information and Organization Network (BIO-NET) Malunggay. As a center for partnership between various academe and stakeholders including farmers, scientist, local government and non-government organizations, it has launched a DA based “Malunggay in the City” program to promote the backyard farming of malunggay in urban areas.

In Metro Manila, 14 barangays were launched as pilot sites of this novel program to also harness the vast potential of such versatile plant both for the local and export market. In addition, the “Malunggay in the City” program is a joint venture of the Department of Agriculture (DA), Aktibong Kapatiran sa Isang Bayan (AKTIB) and the Asian Center for Grassroots Communication and Advocacy. (PIA Press Release, 2008).

International studies feeds

Malunggay’s myriad uses, vast availability, low cost production, chemical components and nutritive values are ceaselessly resulting to a rapid growth of global interests. Studies on malunggay are also being conducted by numerous researchers around the world. In 1993, D’Souza and Kulkarni compared the nutritive value of four to eight months tender foliage seedlings and mature trees of Moringa oleifera. Their major conclusion was that seedling foliage of M. oleifera has higher nutritive value than other common leafy vegetables such as cabbage, spinach, lettuce, and fenugreek. Hence, it will be a great source of fodder and fish feed.² BIOMASA has also conducted extensive trials using malunggay leaves as swine feed, poultry feed and cattle feed (beef and milk cows). Results of their study indicated that nutrient value of its leaves can be increased for poultry and swine through the additional enzymes that break down phytase and leads to increase absorption of the phosphorous found in malunggay.³

In addition, Makkar and Becker (1996) conducted a study on the nutrients and anti-quality factors in different morphological parts of the Moringa oleifera tree at the Institute for Animal Production in the Tropics and Subtropics of Germany. Their study showed that malunggay leaves have crude protein (CP) of 260g per kg, its twigs have 70g per kg of CP and its stems have 60g per kg of CP. About 64% of the total CP present in the leaves was found to be degradable after 24 hours and about 87% of the total CP was in the form of true proteins. The amount of all essential amino acids in the malunggay leaves were higher than the amino acid pattern of the soybean’s FAO reference protein. So, they concluded that the Moringa oleifera leaves and residue obtained after recovery of oil and coagulants can be good sources of proteins not only for human food but also for animal feed.

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Indeed, Moringa oleifera can be used not only as a human’s food but also as a feed supplement for other animals like chickens. This indicate that the Moringa leaf meal additive can increase good sources of nutritive values or chemical components and reduce total amount of expenses and feed used. It is now your choice to ensure secure and sustainable access to food not only for yourself or family but also for your animals, community, country and world.