Last weekend I had a fantastic time visiting one of the organic Moringa farms and a production site in Preah Vihear and Siem Reap Province. Since Cambodia is a developing country with a lot of poverty, it is still a place untouched by big agricultural corporations such as Bayer and Monsanto. Hence why the majority of veggies, fruits, herbs, and spices you find here are still cultivated in an organic, pesticide-free way!
I really hope it will stay like this, though! To be honest, if the corrupt government doesn’t interfere, chances are quite high since organic and naturally-grown are two important buzz words among most Cambodian or Khmer growers… and they get my full support!
I love their smaller, odd-looking produce. If you compare it to the imported, chemical-treated stuff that comes from Vietnam and Thailand, these fruits and veggies look so tiny, but oh man the difference in taste is beyond words.
Cambodian organic produce has an amazingly fresh flavor. I once fell for the bigger size of the imported watermelons and I could actually taste the chemicals in it! Yikes! After one bite the whole thing ended up in the bin! I didn’t want to poison the chickens with it either. That’s how bad it was. But enough about the produce, let’s talk moringa.
Fairtrade, Organic, and Sustainable!
Ever since we (my hubby, furry friend Chivas, and I) arrived in Cambodia about 2.5 years ago, I wanted to do something with the country’s natural treasures while helping the people and communities build a sustainable, fair-trade business. And I think I’m onto something good here.
Before I show you the pictures of my trip to the countryside, have you actually ever heard of the moringa tree before? Often touted as the “Miracle Tree,” there are dozens of known moringa health benefits today. It’s actually very impressive how much essential vitamins and minerals moringa packs in a single cup.
With one cup fresh leaves you’ll be getting following daily value percentages:
- 22% of vitamin C
- 41% of potassium
- 61% of magnesium
- 71% of iron
- 125% of calcium
- 272% of vitamin A
ALSO READ: Are You In Need Of Magnesium?
To give you a better idea….
The moringa dry leaf has 10 times more vitamin A than carrots, 17 times the amount of calcium in milk, 15 times the potassium in bananas, 25 times the amount of iron in spinach, and 9 times more protein than yogurt!
Amazing isn’t it? Superfood qualities? I would say a big YES to that. Next to these amazing nutritional values, moringa leaves and seeds are also packed with a broad range of antioxidants to protect your body from premature aging and cancer while boosting the immune system to fight chronic inflammation and disease.
In some Asian countries, moringa is also traditionally used to improve milk production and facilitate breastfeeding in mothers who just gave birth.
And these incredible benefits are only the tip of the iceberg of what moringa can do for you. I can’t wait to go back into the field and learn more about how people have used this miracle tree both in a culinary and healing way.
The other day we made a moringa soup, and it was delicious. We also often add it to green smoothie these days since it actually tastes like spinach, to my hubby’s opinion even better. See I like spinach, but my hubby says It has a bitter aftertaste when cooked. Moringa has none of that. It has a delicious green, spinach-like smooth aftertaste.
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The Farm in Pictures
Young Moringa Trees in Preah Vihear.
Moringa farmer (left) and Mr. Ung Tongeang, founder of the project and the Assistant Professor and former deputy director of Build Bright University, Cambodia.
Moringa Flowers (used to make moringa blossom tea).
While moringa is a gigantic tree, this is about the tallest they’ll let them grow so they can still easily pick the leaves by hand.
The tall grass in front of the moringa trees is lemongrass, used to keep insects away.
A little hut with drinking water, a hammock, and cooking supplies for the farmers.
Since the founder of the moringa project is not only prioritizing high-quality, organic end products (such as tea. powder, capsules, soap, and tablets) and methods, he also values people and the surrounding environment. You know how it can go in developing SE-Asian countries; very low pay, exploitation, pollution, deforestation, and horrible, unsafe work conditions, are not an uncommon thing.
Mr. Ung Tongeang, however, wants to give back to the communities. He wants to help them expand, create better farming conditions, and provide better working tools and conditions while sticking to the organic farming methods and paying them a more than fair price for the moringa leaves.
Though he is in charge of the production process and distribution throughout Cambodia and neighboring countries, all the farming lands are owned by the farmers, and he buys all their product, supporting the rural communities in Cambodia. Happy farmer and a content producer/distributor. The perfect symbiosis.
Furthermore, all the trees are grown in a sustainable, organic way! No pristine rainforests had to make way for these plantations. Nor can you find any kind of pesticides or herbicides on their lands. Like mentioned above, they use natural ways, like the lemongrass plant to ward off insects and other pests.
FAIRTRADE, ORGANIC AND SUSTAINABLE! IT CAN’T GET ANY BETTER, RIGHT?
Scroll down for more pictures that show how the moringa is processed without any addition of chemicals.
What Do They Do With All The Fresh Moringa Leaves?
After the young leaves are harvested from the field, they are washed with sterilized, filtered water. Next, the washed leaves go through a natural drying process before being used as a natural tea or ground into power to make dietary supplements such as powder to add to smoothies and juices, capsules, or tablets.
The natural drying process of the moringa leaves.
When the leaves are dry, they are bagged for tea or ground into powder to make capsules or tablets. We witnessed the production of capsules since that was what they were producing in the small facility that day.
Packaging. After the capsules are filled with pure moringa powder or tablets are pressed, they are carefully packed and labeled in glass re-usable bottles.
Other moringa products they produce include cold-pressed moringa oil, moringa soap, and tea from the seeds or pods. The owner of the project is currently considering buying a steam distiller to make moringa essential oil. Really looking forward to seeing that process coming together.
Combining The Power of Moringa with Turmeric and Black Pepper
To make things even better, along with the moringa trees, turmeric and black pepper are also grown. That’s 3 of the world’s most amazing superfoods grown in one spot.
Surrounded by pepper plants, which grow right next to the moringa fields.
While moringa trees adore the tropical sun, pepper plants need a little cover from the constant heat.
FYI: black, white, and green pepper all come from the same flowering vine plant, the Piper nigrium. Green pepper is the freshly picked young peppercorns. Black peppercorns are picked when they are almost ripe and naturally dried in the sun, which turns the skin pitch black. White peppercorns are fully-ripened black peppercorns with their outer skins removed before drying. Pink peppercorns, however, are not true peppercorns from the Piper genus but are the ripe berries of the Brazilian pepper tree.
While it wasn’t the right season to dig up some turmeric roots, they still had some drying from the previous harvesting season.
ALSO READ: Top 7 Health Benefits of Turmeric
Air-dried turmeric.
It is still uncertain what we will do with all the information and plant goodness we just discovered. But a collaboration is in the making. I can barely contain my excitement since I feel so blessed to live, work, and be among the Khmer (Cambodian) people and the many natural treasures hidden deep within the tropical rainforests and rural areas.
Looking to the future, you can probably expect some more moringa, turmeric, and black pepper news. While I ‘m always eager to learn more about nature, food, and health-related topics, this project-in-the-make got me all excited that’s for sure!
Thanks for reading. I hope this information was helpful. Until next time!
Amy Goodrich
Crazy cat lady, life and food lover, certified biologist, and holistic health coach.
I am growing moringa trees as an experiment. I live in Yuma AZ, and the Mexican culture in the area, sells, grows, consumes moringa in many ways as well. I heard about the tree from my church back in Illinois, where we sponsored 3rd world countries to come and sell whatever they wished to the congregation. I remember hearing about this tree then and how every part of it could be used. How do they keep the trees short to harvest? Just by cutting them back all the time? Please keep telling us about the 3 herbs you mentioned-turmeric, moringa, and pepper.
GiGi
Thanks for your comment Gigi! I love the moringa tree and like you mentioned they keep them small by harvesting them every month. I will surely keep you all updated! How are the trees growing in Yuma?
Which is better moringa or wheatgrass? Having more benefit and less side effect!
Hi Maria. They are both great. I prefer Moringa because we have that growing in our backyard so that we can use it both in powder form and fresh. Moringa has a lot of essential vitamins, mineral, protein, and fiber. Just as wheatgrass which is also rich in protein, fiber, and other important phytonutrients. Have a great day!
Hi Amy! Great read. I am based in Jaipur, India and we are embarking on a trial cultivation fo Morina for leaf production. The cultivation will be organic.
I am interested in knowing how lemongrass keeps away the insects away.
That’s great news. Moringa is such a great plant. As for the lemongrass, its fragrance and volatile oils work as a natural insect repellent.
Great informative and fun articles Amy. Really like the pictures and seeing what others are doing with moringa.
I live in the Republic of Panama on a farm in the central Pacific and am growing Moringa along with coconuts. We mix it in with our salads and rice&beans. I also feed moringa every day to my healthy, loving and HUGE rottweilers (cats are cool too;)). Like your article says there are so many uses that the plant has…it’s inspiring. At Lago Bay (my farm), we are growing thousands of trees that are all coming into harvest. The farming part seems to be going very well. I’m looking for expertise in order to harvest and process these two wonderful super foods. I need some help with not only the processing parts, but also looking into the market and getting my farm connected with other people that feel the same about health and diet.
Any suggestions are most welcome. If you’d like to see a little more of what I’m doing you can at lagobay.com. Thanks in advance, Brett.
Thanks for stopping by Brett. Love your farm and moringa. The processing is quite easy, depending on what you want to make of course. The farm we visited makes moringa capsules, pills, tea, oil, soap, and powder. They didn’t have fancy equipment. Just a dehydrator, oil press, and a machine to grind the dried product into a powder. If you want I can always put you in contact with the farm, but we are on the other side of the world and English isn’t always an option here. I am sure you can find some excellent growers and producers near you too to go and have a look at how they handle their product. Good luck.
I like the news,hopping to plant the trees,knowledge has to be expand the knowledge