Standardization of seed germination testing protocol in Moringa oleifera Lam

Abstract

Moringa oleifera Lam. is a fast–growing, soft wood, drought–resistant and multipurpose tree of Moringaceae family (Quattrocchi 2000), popularly known as drumstick in India and horseradish tree in other parts of the world. This miracle tree is native to India and cultivated in the tropics and sub–tropics of the world for its nutritional, medicinal and therapeutic properties (Nsofor et al. 2012). Propagation of moringa through seed is easy (Radovich 2012) and can be achieved in a large area rapidly when compared to stem cutting methods. Moringa seeds, not only used as planting material but are also a rich source of oil (ben–oil) (Anwar and Rashid 2007), which is considered as good substitute for Olive oil. Seed cake after oil extraction is used for water purification. It has dimeric cationic proteins that neutralize the colloidal charge of turbid water and remove impurities by flocculation (Delelegn et al. 2018).