Monday, October 20, 2008 Finding the perfect focus By Jenara Regis Newman
FINDING himself jobless when Atlas Mines closed, chemical engineer Moises Flores Miranda decided to make use of the degree he earned from the University of San Carlos to be self-employed.
He made laundry soap under the brand Excel, but eventually stopped doing this as he could not compete with the multinationals making the same product.
Miranda did (still does) continue to make herbal soaps (with extracts of papaya, egg, oatmeal, avocado, virgin coconut oil and even kamunggay) but only “on order” basis.
About three years ago, he found a perfect product: kamunggay tablets. The lowly kamunggay’s properties have recently been rediscovered by modern scientists; properties known to people in not too ancient times.
The Trees for Life organization reports that kamunggay (scientific name Moringa oleifera) “leaves contain more Vitamin A than carrots, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more vitamin C than oranges, and more potassium than
bananas.” The report also states that it has protein that rivals that of milk and eggs.
In an article, entitled “A Common Tree with Rare Power,” Mark Frits writes: “Scientifically speaking, Moringa sounds like magic. It can rebuild weak bones, enrich anemic blood and enable a malnourished mother to nurse her starving baby.
“Ounce for ounce, it has the calcium of four glasses of milk, the vitamin C of seven oranges and the potassium of three bananas.
“A dash of moringa can make dirty water drinkable. Doctors use it to treat diabetes in West Africa and high blood pressure in India. Not only can it staunch a skin infection, moringa makes an efficient fuel, fertilizer and livestock feed.”
All these findings, plus his own, made Miranda embark on his making of kamunggay tablets.
He said there are 13 varieties of kamunggay and the local variety is Moringa oleifera LAM. Under the brand Moringana (Immunex), he started to make these tables, picking the leaves from his organic kamunggay farm in Talaga, Argao.
The leaves, he said, are gathered in the morning, washed, then plucked by gloved hand, air dried until crispy, then pulverized into fine powder.
It is then subjected to dry sterilization to reduce moisture, then placed in a sterile area for stocking before “capsuling,” which used to be done by hand but which is now done mechanically in Manila.
Moringana, Miranda says, was chosen to participate in the Natural Product Exposition of Asia held in Hong Kong. The stocks brought there were sold out and there have been inquiries which, at the moment, he cannot fill yet.
He has to develop another farm, after the current farm gets its organic farm certification from the Organic Council of the Philippines, before he can produce more tablets to fill the demand abroad.
Miranda also makes sambong tablets, said to be a cure for urinary tract infections, and kamote tablets, for dengue fever, which he is still researching on. As for kamunggay, he says there are more possibilities for it. In fact, he already has kamunggay tea, in powdered from.
Truly, Moises Miranda has found the perfect tree for the perfect end product for his abilities to focus on.
