Seeing the importance of malunggay, Senator Loren Legarda pushed for the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of the plant in all suitable areas of the country to maximize the benefits of the exceptionally nutritious and productive but underutilized tropical crop.

Legarda filed Senate Bill No. 1349 to task the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, farmer’s groups, local government units, and the private sector, to formulate a five-year framework for developing malunggay for food, medicinal, health, and commercial needs.

“Malunggay is one of the most useful tropical trees. The relative ease with which it propagates through both sexual and asexual means and its low demand for soil nutrients and water after being planted makes its production and management easy,” said Legarda.

“Malunggay’s young leaves are edible and are commonly cooked and eaten like spinach or used to make soups and salads. They are an exceptionally good source of pro-vitamin A, vitamins B, and C, minerals (in particular iron), and the sulphur-containing amino acids methionine and cystine,” she said.

“The dry seeds can be ground to a powder and used for seasoning sauces. The roots from young plants can also be dried and ground for use as a hot seasoning base with a flavor similar to that of horse radish. The flowers can be eaten after being lightly blanched or raw as a tasty addition to salads,” she said.

For industrial purposes, the oil content of de-hulled seed of malunggay is approximately 42 percent. The oil is brilliant yellow. It is used as a lubricant for fine machinery such as timepieces because it has little tendency to deteriorate and become rancid and sticky.

Malunggay is also useful as a vegetable cooking oil. It is also known for its capacity to absorb and retain volatile substances and is therefore valuable in the perfume industry for stabilizing scents.

The protein from the extracted malunggay oil is a natural polypeptide for sedimenting mineral particles and organics in the purification of drinking water, for cleaning vegetable oil, or for sedimenting fibers in the juice and beer industries.

Malunggay when pressed can be used in the form of a foliar spray to accelerate the growth of young plants to be firmer, with larger fruit, and more resistant to pests and diseases.

Senator Legarda said that Biomasa, a Technical University based in Nicaragua, conducted studies on using the seeds from malunggay for the final treatment in wastewater treatment units.

“To avoid eutrophication of rivers or lakes, the malunggay seeds can be used to coagulate algae and remove them by sedimentation.

The algae recovered by sedimentation after drying and pulverization have a protein content of about 46 percent and can be used as a protein supplement for cows, pigs, chickens and even shrimps thereby reducing the cost of feeding substantially. Up to 98 percent of the algae can be removed by this treatment,” she said.

Legarda cited local studies which have been made on the use of malunggay for medicinal purposes.

“Malunggay leaves are good for headache, bleeding from a shallow cut, bacterial and fungal skin complaints, anti-inflammatory gastric ulcers and diarrhea, malnutrition,” she said.

Malunggay pods are dewormers, good for treating liver and spleen problems, pain of the joints, and malnutrition.

Likewise, malunggay seeds treat arthritis, rheumatism, gout, cramp, STD, boils and urinary problems, and is a relaxant for epilepsy,” she said.

Legarda said malunggay seed producers can amass a net income of approximately P218,000 to P521,000 per hectare a year at P20 per kilogram of seeds, if the malunggay trees are planted two to three meters apart.