Sohanjna — a cure for all ills

Gurvinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 10

Though there are several tree species with medicinal properties, not all of them are widely known. One such tree is “Sohanjna”, the botanical name of which is Moringa Oleifera.

Environmentalists are making efforts to increase awareness among the public about the medicinal and nutritional benefits of the tree.

Gurvinder Pal Singh Dhillon, senior scientist at the Punjab Agricultural University, said: “Sohanjna has been a traditional tree, but it has not been used much in Punjab. In southern parts of India, people use the tree extensively for medicinal purposes and to cure several health disorders.” He said the trees grown developed at the university as well.

He said the fruit of the tree can be used for making pickles. Like the “karhi” leaves, leaves of the tree can be used directly, he said.

Balwinder Lakhewali, an environmentalist, points out to several benefits of the tree. He said the tree has a number of benefits and helps in dealing with health problems. People must have such medicinal trees at their houses.

He said: “Sohanjna indeed can be considered as a panacea tree due to its medicinal properties. It is said to treat more than 200 human diseases. The tree has calcium several times more than milk.”

Similarly, it has several times more iron than the richest source of iron — spinach — and has much more vitamin C than citrus fruits. Every part of the tree — leaves, branches and roots — can prove to be beneficial in some or the other way.