Description
The drumstick tree is native to India, arabia and parts of Africa.
The earliest written evidence of its cultivation is from ***0
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 *0 calories, 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. The leaves also contain
two chemicals with potential anti-cancer effects.
