Tuesday, August 21, 2007 DA eyes ‘malunggay’ for food fortification, export
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) will conduct a comprehensive study on the impact of the malunggay on the campaign to reduce malnutrition and increase the incomes of farmers who would cultivate the hardy tree and supply local and foreign corporations with natural ingredients that have significant cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.
Malunggay, known in England as moringa and in India as sajina, has been found by biochemists and molecular anthropologists as rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, iron and high density lipoprotein (HDL) otherwise known in medical literature as good cholesterol, according to director Alicia Ilaga of the DA Biotechnology Program Office, which monitors all projects related to the development of agricultural biotechnology products.
Ilaga stressed that a scientific study of malunggay would spark interest in the tree, which could potentially supply a variety of substances needed by food processors, pharmaceutical industries and even corporations engaged in the manufacture of cosmetics.
This early, Ilaga explained, DA is encouraging experts from the Department of Health (DoH), the National Nutrition Council (NNC), the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), the National Anti Poverty Commission (NAPC), Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), Nutrition Center of the Philippines (NCP) and Secura Philippines, Inc, a local biotech firm, to collaborate in pushing the wider cultivation and processing of malunggay.
According to Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban, NAPC chief, the cultivation of malunggay can be undertaken in the 10 poorest provinces of the country along with many communities in the National Capital Region (NCR) since the tree can survive in hostile terrain and needs practically little attention.(PIA)
