Malungay: Leafy Satisfying

Post date: Jan 10, 2018 8:58:55 AM

By: Lily M. Sanchez

City of Balanga National High School

Plants hold amazing healing plants.

There are many books and journal articles bear out to the healing wonders of plants. Herbal medicines line the shelves of drugstores for some Physicians prescribe herbal supplements. Yet the World Health Organization identifies herbal medications as a complementary health system. With its broad range of flora the Philippine present, many plants can be the answer to your health problem, specifically, Moringa.

What’s Moringa?

It’s kalungai in Bikolano; marongai in Ilonggo; malungit in Bisaya; and yeah, you’re. right, it’s called malunggay in many Filipino dialects! Scientifically, it’s called Moringa oleifera.

More clues? Aside from its various names, malunggay has a large number of medicinal properties that can nourish the body of its nutritional requirements, ease mild discomforts and even cure terminal illnesses. It healing powers are not limited to its leaves alone but equally beneficial are the parts of the tree.

Did you know that the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, an agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) used Malunggay’s image as their official logo. And surprise! To many Filipinos, malunggay is called as the mother’s best friend, and miracle vegetable.

To build resistance and fortify our defenses against communicable diseases, the Department of Health (DOH) uplifts every Filipino to eat plenty of malunggay.

Eat malunggay for good health and long life. That’s the advice of nutrition books. That’s what the DOH wants us to do. Let’s love malunggay and be healthy. Nutritionists at the FNRI recommended using these food products in feeding programs to augment the vitamin A and calcium requirements of children. One serving of 250 milliliters of soup with Malunggay Leaf Powder (MLP) meets 24 percent of the Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intakes (RENI) per day for vitamin A for Filipino children 7-9 years old. A serving of 333 milliliters of veggie sauce satisfies 29 percent of the nutrient for this group of children. Moreover, the FNRI-DOST suggests MLP to include as ingredients in ready-to-cook veggie soup, ready-to-cook veggie sauce, breakfast cereal and malunggay fish sausage.

“Malunggay,” according to Ms. Rosemarie Dumag and Dr. Trinidad P. Trinidad of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST), “contains 34.3 percent oil.” In addition, Ms. Dumag and Dr. Trinidad found that malunggay seed oil has also registered the lowest trans-fat value compared with canola, corn, and olive oil. The value is so low that it may be affirmed to contain zero trans-fat. With these findings, malunggay seed oil could be a promising source of high quality edible oil.

Malunggay along with other vegetables will help our students to become healthier. And if worst comes to worst, it won’t hurt them to have a daily multivitamin. At least that way, they get to keep their wisdom.

So, do you want to be healthy, young and good looking? Learn to love this leafy vegetables! Start eating malunggay!