Group · Vegetables
Moringa
Moringa, or the tree of life, is a tropical tree whose leaves are eaten fresh or ground into powder. Sold in Europe as a superfood, in its countries of origin it is above all an ordinary leafy vegetable and a tool in the fight against malnutrition.
In terms of nutrition facts, raw leaves provide 64 kcal per 100 g, with 9.4 g of protein, an exceptional level for a leaf, 8.28 g of carbohydrate and 1.4 g of fat. They provide 185 mg of calcium, 4 mg of iron, 51.7 mg of vitamin C and 1.2 mg of vitamin B6 per 100 g.
Macronutrient breakdown
Nutrition table per 100 g
| Calories | 64 kcal |
| Kilojoules | 268 kJ |
| Protein | 9,4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 8,3 g |
| Fat | 1,4 g |
| Fibre | 2 g |
Micronutrients per 100 g
All measured nutrients, ranked by share of the daily reference intake.
- Vitamin B61,2 mg86 %
- Vitamin C51,7 mg65 %
- Manganese1,06 mg53 %
- Vitamin A378 µg47 %
- Vitamin B20,66 mg47 %
- Iron4 mg29 %
- Vitamin B10,26 mg23 %
- Calcium185 mg23 %
See the other 9 nutrients
- Vitamin B940 µg20 %
- Potassium337 mg17 %
- Phosphorus112 mg16 %
- Vitamin B32,22 mg14 %
- Magnesium42 mg11 %
- Copper0,11 mg11 %
- Zinc0,6 mg6 %
- Vitamin B50,13 mg2 %
- Selenium0,9 µg2 %
USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy)
Tips
9.4 g of protein per 100 g of leaves: this is remarkable. No other leafy vegetable in our database comes close. It explains its use in emergency nutrition in the Sahel countries.
But powder is not eaten in 100 g portions. This is the point that marketing leaves out: you take a teaspoon, which is 2 g. The spectacular figures in the table never show up on the plate at that dose.
4 mg of iron and 185 mg of calcium. In a teaspoon of powder, that comes to 0.08 mg of iron: negligible. By contrast, fresh leaves cooked like spinach, by the handful, make a genuine contribution.
Its health claims are not proven. Diabetes, cholesterol, inflammation: the available studies are of low evidence, often in animals. Moringa is a good vegetable, not a treatment.
Pregnancy: take care. Moringa bark and roots are traditionally abortifacient, and concentrated supplements are not recommended during pregnancy. The leaf eaten as a vegetable does not pose the same problem.