NONI

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Morinda citrifolia
FAMILY: Rubiaceae

Common Name: Indian Mulberry, Noni, Nonu, Koonjerung, Tokoonja

Native to: S.E. Asia, Australia and Pacific Islands.

The Morinda is a small tree from 3 - 11 metres high by 2-6 metres wide with very shiny foliage. The leaves are large, 8 inches or longer, shiny and oval and grow from the branches in pairs. The many veined leaves are broadly ovate to narrowly ovate on short stems. The branches are thick and angular in shape. The tree is not related to the Mulberry at all, rather the Gardenia or coffee.

The flowers have five to seven petals and are 1.5 cm by 1.2 cm in size. They are arranged in short-stalked axillary clusters and are sweetly fragrant. These flowers develop into a curious compound fruit. The fruit is about 5 x 10 cm long by 4 - 6 cm wide, greenish white or pale yellow. The outside of the fruit is marked by a pattern of shapes. Each tiny shape may have 5 sides or it may have 6 sides. The flesh of the fruit is white-yellow and it is strongly odorous when ripe. It reminds me of Parmesan cheese only 100 times worse.

The seeds are oblong, triangular and red-brown. Each seed has an air sac attached to it. This bladder of air on the seed allows it to float on breezes and water very easily. So Morinda is found widely throughout the Pacific region and Asia. In Australia it is found from far North Western Australia to the Northern region of Northern Territory and North Eastern Queensland where it is found on offshore islands, beach scrubs and waterways.

It is drought and frost tender and grows well in most soils but prefers well composted well drained soils. It needs protection from the sun while young. I have seen excellent specimens in the Townsville Palmaterium; in the Rockhampton Kershaw Gardens and in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens where it is in a heated glasshouse.

The Polynesians called it 'Noni' and extracted dyes of several colours from parts of the plant. They even ate the fruit in times of famine as it is edible but rather unpalatable. Cooked Noni does not have such a disagreeable taste. In Malaysia, it is called Mengkundu; in South east Asia it is called Nhau; in Samoa and Tonga it is called Nono, and Noni in the Marquesas Islands and Hawaii. It is also called Indian Mulberry, Koonjerung, Tokoonja, Giant Morinda, Cheese fruit, Headache tree and Pain Killer plant.

The root bark of the Noni if boiled with lime made from coral produces a red dye. A yellow dye can also be extracted from the woody part of the roots. In Java and India, an industry of dyeing was developed. A lot of care is necessary in the preparation of these dyes and synthetic dyes have replaced the noni dyes with better and brighter shades.

However it is also used medically, according to the book, Plants of Old Hawaii by Lois Lucas. The Hawaiians found that a poultice would bring boils to a head. The leaves and stem bark were boiled and used as a tonic. If the Hawaiian had lice on his scalp, he would first apply the juice of the Noni plant to kill them and then wash his head with a coconut shampoo.

According to the book, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsular by I. Burkill, the Noni is used as a medicine. The Malay Peninsular was used as an emmenagogue both in Malay [Pharm Jour. Per 3,17, 1886 p 6 ] and in Cochin China [Watt, Dict 1891]. In the Medical Book of Malayan medicine [Gard Bull ss 61930 pp 345 and 366] the juice is recommended for leucorrhoea and sapraemia. It is also recommended by Rumpf for dysuria and the fruit for diabetes. The fruit is sometimes used internally in various preparations for swollen spleen, liver diseases, beri beri, haemorrhage and coughs. [K.Heyne, Nutt Plant Ned. In. Ed of 1927 p 1411]

Ochse [Vegetables, Dutch E. Ind. 1932 pg 632] says that in Java the ripe fruits are taken and their seeds removed; the pulp mashed with sugar and drunk as a slightly laxative preparation. It is not uncommon throughout Malaysia to heat and apply the leaves to the chest or to the abdomen for coughs, enlarged spleen, in nausea, colic and fever. [Meldrum ex Holmes in Bull Pharm 6, 1892 p 111: Burkill and Haniff in Gard Bull ss 6, 1930 pg 312.]

The pulp of the fruit may be used for cleaning the hair and sometimes for cleaning iron and steel. The young leaves may serve as a vegetable in Java. In the book Plants of Samoa by B.E.V. Parkam, the roots and leaves are used in medicine but doesn't explain how. In India, the leaves were used as an antiseptic for wounds and sores. People in Burma cooked unripe fruits in curries, while ripened fruits were eaten raw with salt. In Wild Food Plants of Australia by Tim Low, it mentions that the great Morinda was an important fruit of Aborigines but is less popular today. It is sometimes eaten unripe while still crisp and odourless. In the Northern Territory, it enjoys a strong reputation as a cure for colds; the fruit is simply eaten raw. In Asia and New Guinea, great Morinda leaves have been cooked and served as a vegetable, but Aborigines did not eat them. The young leaves can also be eaten cooked or raw.

It is claimed that the best Noni grow in Tahiti where the tree fruits all year round and the fruits are about the size of a potato and resembles a small breadfruit. These would be quite large as the plants growing in Kershaw Botanic Gardens have fruits only the size and thickness of a man's thumb. The Tahitians claim the ideal climate, soil conditions and the pristine environment for the superior sized Morinda citrifolia.

On the market at the moment is a preparation called "Tahitian Noni" marketed by Independent Morinda Distributors which is selling the juice as a diet supplement. There is also an Hawaiian Noni Juice produced by Natures R.X. Both companies make no curative claims about the product. The list of traditional uses of Tahitian Noni includes uses for diarrhea, internal parasites, indigestion, stomach ulcers, coughs, asthma, respiratory affections, flu, fevers with vomiting, inflamed sore gums, diabetes, high blood pressure, headache, kidney and bladder, malignancies or tumours, childbirth and pregnancy, menstrual cramps, regulate menstrual flow, arthritis, broken bones, sprains and to treat the general effects of aging.

One can take noni in the morning or before meals. The recommendation for most people is to take two tablespoons per day on an empty stomach. It is also available in capsule form. There is a lot of information on the world wide web both for and against this product.

I make no recommendation for the use or non-use of these products.

References:
A Dictionary of Economic Products of the Malay Peninsular by I. Burkill

Plants of old Hawaii by Lois Lucas

Wild Food Plants of Australia by Tim Low.

Ann Oram

DATE: May 1999

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