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Mother's best friend
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From leaves and root to pods and seeds, all parts of the drumstick tree are edible
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THE DRUMSTICK tree is known as horseradish tree even though horseradishes grow on a tree belonging to a different species altogether. Another baffling moniker is "Mother's Best Friend". It is also known as Ben-oil tree for its non-drying seed oil that is prized as a watch lubricant and paint base.
The drumstick tree is native to India, Arabia and parts of Africa. The earliest written evidence of its cultivation is from 2000 BC.
Drumstick seed powder is an efficient and cheap water purifying agent that sediments most of the impurities in turbid water. It is ideal for treating river water before boiling it.
Drumstick leaves are edible as salad greens and vegetables. The root is a substitute for horseradish, and the long pods are used in soups, curries, sambhar and pickles. The seed oil is clear, odourless and durable; it burns without smoke and it is used as edible oil and in the perfume industry. Gum found in the bark, and the leaf powder, are spices. The flowers are edible when mixed with other foods or fried in butter.
Hundred gm of drumstick pods contain less than 50 calorie, most of it as carbohydrate. The pods are rich in iron, Vitamin C, beta-carotene, copper and iodine. The fresh leaves contain twice as many calories, and they are also rich in iron, manganese, zinc, copper, B Vitamins, Vitamin C and calcium. In fact, the leaf powder is now a nutrition supplement for lactating mothers and infants in Africa and Asia.
On the flip side
The leaves also contain two chemicals with potential anti-cancer effects. The seed oil does not turn rancid, but it is not healthful because it is full of saturated fatty acids that are bad for the heart and blood vessels.
The root bark contains chemicals that stimulate the heart but also raise blood pressure.
According to Ayurveda, there are at least 300 medicinal uses of the drumstick plant. The flowers, leaves and roots are part of folk remedies for cancer. The leaves are a poultice for sores and headaches, and they are also used as a digestive in small doses. The root juice has counter-irritant properties similar to proprietary pain balms. The inflammation it evokes reddens the skin sufficiently to make it popular as a beauty aid.
RAJIV. M
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