The drumstick (Murungakkai in Tamil) is a fairly common vegetable grown all over India and Pakistan. The drumstick tree is perennial, erect, slender, and medium sized with many arching branches. It is antibacterial and a wonderful cleanser. Drumstick pods and leaves are of great value as sources of acrotene, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C. The leaves, flowers and fruits of drumstick which are used as vegetable have great nutritional value. The leaves and flowers are used to prepare curry and especially beneficial in the treatment of many ailments due to their various medicinal properties and their rich iron content.
Benefits
- Drumstick leaves serve as a tonic for infants and growing children. For better results, juice should be extracted from leaves, filtered and mixed with milk. This mixture becomes an excellent tonic for healthy and strong for bones.
- Drumstick tonic regularly by expectant mothers will provide them with necessary calcium, iron and vitamins. It will also help them overcome sluggishness of the uterus, facilitate easy delivery and reduce post delivery complications. A vegetable prepared from leaves increases breast milk after child birth. The vegetable is prepared by boiling the leaves with salt and water. The water is then drained off and they are smeared with ghee and eaten.
- A soup made with drumstick flowers boiled in milk is very useful as a sexual tonic.