Malunggay a better alternative to jatropha
Republic Act 9367, otherwise known as the Biofuel Act of 2006, mandates the addition of biofuel, up to a certain percentage, to fossil fuels, such as gasoline and diesel.
For bio-diesel the government and private sector are eyeing jatropha development. Jatropha curcas is a perennial plant native to the American tropics. Its distribution extends beyond tropical
Jatropha is a fast growing plant that can achieve a height of three meters within three years. Seeds or cuttings are used and flowering occurs within four to five months after planting, usually during the hot and rainy season. When propagated by cuttings, it can bear fruit after five months to one year.
The results of tests made on Philforest’s jatropha methyl ester (JME) show the great potential of Jatropha oil as source of bio-diesel. Laboratory tests reveal that it passes the American (ASIM D6751) and European (EN 14214) standards of bio-diesel.
But, is there no other alternative to Jatropha? Yes, there is and this is malunggay (Moringa oleifera) dubbed by the Asian Vegetable Research and
Malunggay seeds yield about the same as jatropha seeds, i.e. 40 percent. Jatropha has no economic value, except for its seeds, whereas malunggay has many uses, from its nutritious leaves, to its flowers, its pods and its seeds, and its bark and roots for medicinal purposes.
In fact, the leaves of malunggay are the most nutritious “macro-vegetable” in the world. It is a valuable fortifier of foods and drinks, like malunggay burger, malunggay tea, malunggay noodles, malunggay “pan de sal”, malunggay cookies and “polvoron”, malunggay ice cream and malunggay “gulaman: ice cold drink, to make our junk food no more junk.
Both malunggay and jatropha grow under the same weather and soil conditions, i.e. on marginal lands where they would not compete with traditional food crops, such as rice or sugar cane.
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