Quality Guidelines for Purchasing Moringa Seeds
Whether you purchase seeds from our bank or other sources here are some guidelines we have developed.
Select Seeds According to Purpose
Purchase seeds to best meet your needs. If you are interested in seeds for growing a few trees for a backyard garden there are many vendors on the Internet that can provide an economical supply of seeds suitable for these purposes, and it is not our intent to compete with these sources. Even if the germination rate is comparatively low you will have plenty of seedlings to work with.
However, if you are planning a larger scale planting or research projects we recommend obtaining a wide variety of seeds from reputable suppliers that can document the source and identity the seeds. This will allow experimentation and selection of trees optimized to your growing conditions and the types of moringa products e.g., leaves, pods or seeds that you intend to produce. You can then reorder more of the specific seeds that provided the best outcomes. In our seed bank we offer the most diverse known inventory of seeds from around the world. You may be able to order seeds that were produced from your growing region or from other areas with similar climates. There are also many cultivars of Indian moringa and some of these were developed for specific types of production e.g., pods, leaves or seeds. Refer to our section on MORINGA VARIETIES for descriptions of these and our ONLINE STORE for availability and to make purchases.
If you are purchasing moringa seeds or products made from the seeds for consumption please refer to the guidance below.
Evaluate Advertising Claims
Searching for moringa seeds on Amazon, eBay and the internet will quickly yield many ads. The vast majority of these are for seeds of Moringa oleifera, the common Indian moringa. Many of the ads use potentially deceptive descriptors such as “rare”, “organic,” “non-GMO” and “customs cleared” to describe the seeds in attempts to command higher value or imply special quality attributes to differentiate them from other suppliers. Be skeptical of all such claims:
“Rare Moringa Seeds”. The seeds of Indian moringa should be considered a commodity; they are now a large-scale crop grown in many areas of the world are sold in bulk quantities. With the possible exception of certain cultivars, there is nothing “rare” about them. Few vendors offering seeds of the other species of Moringa, and only some of these may be honestly described as “rare”.
“Organic”. The term “organic” has no uniform and universally accepted definition. It should be used to describe seeds from trees grown by organic farming methods without the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. Organic seeds may be more suitable for production of organic crops because they should be adapted to and productive under organic farming conditions.
Buyers should not pay extra for moringa seeds sold as “organic” because most moringa is grown without use of inorganic fertilizers, and in most growing areas, except India, moringa is grown without the use of pesticides.
In most cases, claims relating to the organic status of seeds, particularly those from non-domestic sources simply cannot be verified. Purchasers who want to obtain only organic seeds should insist that the seeds they are purchasing are certified as organic by an independent, bona fide, certifying organization. For example, the supplier of seeds sold as “USDA Organic” should be listed on the USDA Integrity Database website, and the specific certified product (e.g., moringa seeds, leaf powder or oil) should be shown in the Certified Products column of the Database. Another organic certification program active in the United States is the Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) program.
Purchasers should also review import documents such as phytosanitary certificates to determine if the seeds may have been produced using organic farming methods were subsequently fumigated or treated with pesticides prior to shipment. This renders them non-organic. Be aware that this information may be falsified to facilitate import and export and clearances.
“Non-GMO”. We are unaware of any moringa seeds produced from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) so this claim is probably always accurate and does not differentiate these seeds from others.
“Customs Cleared”. Some vendors advertise seeds as “customs cleared,” implying that the seeds have met all requirements for entry into the United States. This may not be the case. ALL seeds imported into the U.S. for propagative purposes must be imported in compliance with a U.S. Department of Agriculture permit held by the importer. We have seen a number of strategies used by exporters to evade this requirement: seeds may be exported as foodstuffs or mislabeled as other items such as buttons or “religious roots”. They may be cleared by customs with this labeling but the seeds probably have not been inspected for pests and diseases.
Checking Seeds Upon Receipt
When you harvest your own moringa seeds or receive shipments from other sources here are some things to check for:
Appearance. Awareness of the typical appearance of seeds is helpful to assess the quality of seeds, and confirm their identity.
The outer surfaces (hulls) of mature seeds of Indian moringa (Moringa oleifera) are typically brown to black with three, off-white, paper-like wings. If many of the seeds in a shipment have white hulls or greenish wings, this usually indicates that they were harvested before maturity, and these often have low or no viability. A small percentage of the seeds in each lot may be white or smaller than the others. This is normal; those seeds are probably from ends of the pods and less mature. Seed cleaning and sorting processes used by some suppliers may remove these inferior seeds.
Some varieties have seeds with minimal wings, and the wings break off with handling and seed cleaning processes. So the absence or presence of wings is not a reliable indicator of quality or viability. Seeds that have been hulled have no wings and are typically off-white.
Seeds of other species may be markedly different in appearance, size and weight from those of Indian moringa. Refer to our Moringa Seed Catalog for photos of seeds of the other species. Seeds of most of these other species of moringa have very limited availability and prices for some are high. Recently seeds of African moringa (Moringa stenopetala) reached as high as $5.00 per seed. Unfortunately, this situation provides an incentive for fraud and at least one vendor has supplied hulled Moringa oleifera seeds labeled as Moringa stenopetala. Refer to the photo below. The seed on the left is a typical seed of the common Indian moringa (Moringa oleifera) . The seed in the middle is a hulled Moringa oleifera seed that was sold as Moringa stenopetala. The seed on the right is a typical Moringa stenopetala seed. Seeds of this species are scarce and may command a premium price.
Comparison of Moringa oleifera and stenopetala seeds
Photo © Edward Rau, Sustainable Bioresources, LLC
Use licensed CC BY-SA
Hulled Seeds. Some sellers will offer hulled seeds at a higher cost per unit of measure. These are often intended for consumption. We do not recommend purchasing hulled seeds for planting. They may be less stable in storage, are more difficult to identify and provide no known advantages for propagative purposes.
Moisture. Moringa seeds should be stored and shipped dry, in moisture resistant containers. Seeds that have not been adequately dried or have become wet will have reduced shelf life, lower viability and may develop mold. Dry seeds should be nearly odorless; off odors may indicate excessive moisture. Shipments of moist or moldy seeds should be rejected.
Pests. Insect pests are commonly found in moringa seeds, particularly those left in the pods too long after maturity, or held in prolonged storage without adequate pest control precautions.
In areas where a moringa species is endemic there are adapted pest species that feed on it. Importation of infested seeds from these areas to new growing areas could introduce alien pests that have the potential to become established and attack moringa and other crops.
Insects may enter seeds through tiny pinholes in the seed hull and if low numbers are present they may be difficult to detect and may pass import inspections.
 Holes in Moringa Seeds from Larval Lepidoptera |
Frass (chewings and droppings) is expelled from the seeds by insects feeding within them.
 Frass Expelled from Moringa Seeds |
Larger infestations usually generate significant amounts of powder-like frass that settles to the bottoms of bags during shipment and are easy to observe. This is a photomicrograph of frass recovered from the bottom of a plastic bag of insect infested seeds.
Photomicrograph of Moringa Seed Frass
From Insect Infested Seeds
Photo © Edward Rau, Sustainable Bioresources, LLC
Use licensed CC BY-SA
In one recent shipment of moringa seeds imported from India, USDA inspectors at the Honolulu Plant Inspection Station found a diverse array of live insects: immature Anthocoridae (minute pirate bugs), Attagenus sp. (carpet beetle genus), Lasioderma serricorne (tobacco beetle), Mycetophagidae (hairy fungus beetles), Oryzaephilus mercator and Oryzaephilus surinamensis (merchant grain beetles), Thorictodes haydeni (dermestid beetle) and Tribolium sp. (flour beetles). The insects were previously detected in the United States. There was also evidence of a previous infestation of some of the seeds with moth larvae and saprobic fungi were present.
To control insect pests some suppliers place moth balls the seeds in storage; others state that they use fumigants such as methyl bromide. These practices should not be allowed and are not compatible with organic certification. Seed infestations will usually worsen if not controlled and shipments with significant levels of infestation should be rejected and destroyed. Minor infestations can be treated by freezing the seeds for several days.
Purchasing Moringa Seeds and Seed Products for Human or Animal Consumption
Moringa seeds have been used for thousands of years for food, production of edible oils and medicinal purposes. Scientific literature indicates that many of these uses may be safe and effective. However, moringa seeds can become infested by insect pests, contaminated by bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella, pesticides and other toxic chemicals if they are managed without appropriate precautions. Rodents are attracted to the seeds and can contaminate seeds in storage. Seeds that have not been adequately dried or become wet are also subject to mold growth.
Seeds that are properly harvested, processed, dried, stored and transported do not spoil rapidly, have some insecticidal and antimicrobial properties, and may generally be considered low risk foods. Hull removal, roasting and other cooking processes may further reduce risks by removing contaminants or inactivating some bacterial pathogens.
Most of our seeds must be imported from suppliers outside the United States. A final rule adopted pursuant to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 (FSMA) (GSGPO 2011) titled: Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) requires importers to perform certain risk-based activities to verify that food imported into the United States has been produced in a manner that meets applicable U.S. safety standards*. We do not have the resources necessary to evaluate and verify the food safety practices of our seed suppliers, foreign or domestic, and compliance with applicable requirements of the FSMA or other food safety regulations. For the these reasons none of the moringa seeds from our seed bank are offered, sold or approved for use as food by humans or animals.
*Note that foods imported for research or evaluation may be exempt from FSVP requirements.
Phytosanitary Certificates Not Applicable to Food Items. A phytosanitary certificate is an inspection certificate issued by a competent governmental authority (usually an agriculture agency) to document that a particular consignment (lot) of plants or seeds from a country or state has been properly described, inspected, treated if necessary, and found to be free from harmful pests and plant diseases. The name of this document may be somewhat misleading. A phytosanitary certificate does not signify that sanitation requirements applicable to the safety of foods or drugs have been met or evaluated.
Caveat Emptor. We recommend that consumers interested in obtaining moringa seed and seed products for use as human or animal food or medicinal purposes should only purchase these products from sellers who can provide documentation of compliance with food safety requirements. FDA requires all domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food for human or animal consumption in the United States to register with the agency and they should be able to provide copies of registration certificates. A list of importers subject to the FSVP is published by the FDA (FDA 2018a).
Consumers should also be aware that most suppliers are small to very small businesses that may be subject to reduced FSMA and FSVP requirements. Facilities like warehouses that only store raw agricultural products such as moringa seed that are intended for further processing or distribution may also be exempt from Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) requirements that would help to ensure food safety.
References for This Section
FDA. 2017. FSMA Final Rule on Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) for Importers of Food for Humans and Animals. Available: https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm361902.htm
FDA. 2018a. FSVP Importer List. Available: https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/ImportsExports/Importing/UCM599080.pdf
Foley E. 2021. E-mail communication received on September 29, 2021.
Plant Health Safeguarding Specialist/Pest Identification
USDA APHIS PPQ
Honolulu Plant Inspection Station
USGPO. 2011. FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Public Law 11-353. Available: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ353/pdf/PLAW-111publ353.pdf
This page was last updated on August 28, 2022.