Moringa (Shigru) in Ayurveda: Traditional Use, Research and Safety

If you have eaten sambar, you have probably eaten moringa. The long green pods called drumsticks are a staple of South Indian cooking, and the small leaves of the same tree are cooked as a green across India, Africa and Southeast Asia. In Ayurveda the tree is called shigru.

This page describes moringa as the tradition sees it, how it is used in food, and what two sources from the US National Library of Medicine say about safety. The short version is that moringa as a vegetable is a normal part of many diets, while concentrated powders and capsules are products to approach with the same care as any supplement.

What it is

Moringa is Moringa oleifera, a fast-growing tree with feathery leaves, native to the foothills of the Himalayas and now grown across the tropics. Almost every part is used in some cuisine: the pods, the leaves, the flowers and the seeds, which yield a pale oil.

• Sanskrit: shigru (other classical names refer to its pods and its sharp taste)
• Hindi: sahjan, sehjan or saijan
• English: moringa, drumstick tree, horseradish tree
• Other names: murungai in Tamil, sargavo in Gujarati
• Plant part used: the pods and leaves as food, and the root bark, seeds and flowers in traditional preparations

The English name horseradish tree comes from the sharp, mustardy taste of the roots. The root and bark are not everyday food in the way the pods and leaves are, and they should not be treated like them.

The traditional view

Later materia medica such as the Bhavaprakasha describe a substance by its taste (rasa), energy (virya) and effect after digestion (vipaka). The profile commonly taught for shigru is below, though teachers phrase it in different ways.

• Taste (rasa): pungent (katu) and bitter (tikta)
• Qualities (guna): light, dry and sharp
• Energy (virya): heating (ushna)
• Effect on the doshas: said to calm kapha and vata, and to raise pitta when used in quantity.

The classical literature places shigru among substances linked with digestion, with the joints and with swelling, and it has a place in the food of households that follow seasonal eating. Its light, dry and heating nature is the reason it suits the damp seasons described in the page on seasonal eating, and the tradition would not suggest it for someone who is already overheated. We report these as what the tradition holds. They are statements about history and culture, not medical findings, and nothing here says moringa treats any condition.

If the terms are new, the six tastes explains how Ayurveda reads flavour, and the qualities of foods explains words such as light, dry and sharp.

In the kitchen

Moringa is first and foremost a vegetable, and the cooking methods are simple.

• Drumstick pods cut into lengths and simmered in sambar, kootu or curry. They are chewed and the tender flesh scraped from the fibrous skin, and the tough outer fibre is left on the plate
• Fresh leaves stripped from the stalk and cooked briefly with coconut and mustard seed in a dry stir-fry, or added to dal, eggs, flatbreads and soups
• Dried leaf powder, stirred into a dish at the end of cooking, which tastes green and slightly bitter
• Flowers, cooked into a dry vegetable dish in some regions

Fresh leaves and pods should be cooked, and any dish is a matter of taste. A little goes a long way with the powder, because its flavour is strong and may be unpleasant in drinks. For the wider group of pulses and rice dishes, see kitchari, and for the dishes where drumstick appears most often, the page on eating for kapha describes the light, warm food the tradition favours for that principle. Another leafy bitter plant in the herbs section is neem.

What research says

We did not find a page on moringa from the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, so we do not report trial results from that source. Many websites describe moringa as a superfood. We do not repeat that, because the label says more about marketing than about evidence, and we could not verify the claims from a source we checked.

What we can report comes from LiverTox and from the Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), both from the US National Library of Medicine.

LiverTox says that in small clinical trials moringa was well tolerated, with no adverse effects and no changes in routine blood counts or chemistry, including liver tests. LactMed says leaves are widely used as a food and medicine in Asia and Africa, and that the most recent meta-analysis it reviewed (14 studies, 865 participants) indicates moringa increases serum prolactin and milk volume and quality, though it says the long-term benefit for breastfed infants has not been well studied. It adds that galactogogues, meaning products used to increase milk, should never replace evaluation and counselling on the factors that affect milk production.

Safety and interactions

• Liver. LiverTox says moringa is widely used as a food supplement and appears to be well tolerated, so liver injury must be very rare. It rates moringa category D, a possible rare cause of clinically apparent liver injury, and describes a single published case: a 60-year-old woman who developed fatigue, nausea and abnormal liver tests a month after starting moringa capsules, and who recovered after stopping and relapsed when she restarted.
• Warning signs. Unusual tiredness, nausea, poor appetite, dark urine and yellowing of the skin or eyes. Stop any moringa product and see a doctor if you notice them.
• Blood clotting. LactMed says moringa may stimulate blood clotting, so caution is advised for anyone at high risk of blood clots. If you take a blood-thinning medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist before using a concentrated product.
• Breastfeeding. LactMed reports no serious short-term adverse effects in nursing mothers who ate moringa leaves, or in their breastfed infants. Please speak to your midwife or doctor about milk supply, and not simply rely on a product.
• Pregnancy. We found no source we checked that confirms concentrated moringa is safe in pregnancy. We also found no source confirming that the root or bark is safe, so please avoid them, and ask your doctor or midwife before using supplements.
• Children. Drumstick and leaves are ordinary food. We found no source on concentrated products for children.
• Medicines. NCCIH’s digest on herbs and medicines says most interactions are theoretical, with warfarin, digoxin and cancer chemotherapy flagged because their safety margins are narrow. It does not name moringa. Tell your pharmacist about any herbal product you use.
• Quality. Powders and capsules differ widely, and NCCIH notes that some imported Ayurvedic preparations may contain lead, mercury or arsenic.

This page is education, not medical advice. Please read our medical disclaimer, see a doctor for any health concern, and consult a registered Ayurvedic practitioner (BAMS in India) before considering any Ayurvedic treatment.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: LiverTox: Moringa, LactMed (NLM): Moringa, NCCIH: Herb-Drug Interactions, NCCIH: Ayurvedic Medicine in Depth.