Great Morinda
Morinda citrifolia
Indian Mulberry, Mengkudu (Malay),
Nonu/Nono (Pacific Islands), Noni (Hawaii)

The plant grows well on sandy or rocky shores. Apart from saline conditions, the plant also can withstand drought and grows in secondary soils. Thus the plant can be seen in clearings, volcanic terrain, lava-strewn coasts and on limestone outcrops.

Uses as food: The fruits are edible, but don't have a nice taste or smell. In fact, some people consider the ripe fruits to smell like vomit! Mangrove and wetland wildlife at
Sungei Buloh Nature Park

Main features: Grows 5-9 m tall.

Leaves: Large, simple, dark green, shiny, deeply veined.

Flowers: Small, white, growing from a fleshy structure. Blooms and fruits year round.

Fruits: Oval, medium 4-7cm, at first green, turning light yellow or white when ripe. Has many seeds.

World distribution: Native to Southeast Asia but spread to India and the Pacific Islands.

Classification: Family Combretaceae.

Nevertheless, the fruits were eaten as a famine food, and in some Pacific islands, are even a staple food of choice (Raratonga, Samoa, Fiji), where they were eaten raw or cooked. Elsewhere, the fruit is eaten raw with salt (Indochina, Australian Aborigines); or cooked as a curry. The fruits may also be fed to pig livestock. The young leaves can also be eaten as a vegetable and contain protein (4-6%). Seeds may be roasted and eaten.

Other uses: The bark of the Great Morinda produces a reddish purple and brown dye used in making batik and the tree was widely grown for this purpose in Java. In Hawaii, a yellowish dye was also extracted from the roots and also used to dye cloth. The tree was also purposely planted to provide support for pepper vines and shade tree for coffee bushes. Also as a wind-break in Surinam.

Traditional medicinal uses: Various parts are used to contain fever and as a tonic (Chinese, Japan, Hawaii); leaves, flowers, fruit, bark to treat eye problems, skin wounds and abscesses, gum and throat problems, respiratory ailments, constipation, fever (Pacific Islands, Hawaii); to treat stomach pains and after delivery (Marshall Islands). Heated leaves applied to the chest relieve coughs, nausea, colic (Malaysia); juice of the leaves is taken for arthritis (Philippines). The fruit is taken for lumbago, asthma and dysentery (Indochina); pounded unripe fruit is mixed with salt and applied to cuts and broken bones; ripe fruit is used to draw out pus from an infected boil (Hawaii); juices of over-ripe fruits are taken to regulate menstrual flow, ease urinary problems (Malay); fruits used to make a shampoo (Malay, Hawaii) and to treat head lice (Hawaii). Other exotic diseases treated with the plant include diabetes (widespread) and venereal diseases.

Role in the habitat: Like other mangrove and shore plants, the Great Morinda helps to stabilise the shore and provide shade under which other less hardy plants can establish themselves. Their fruits appear to attract the Weaver Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina), which also often make their remarkable nests out of the living leaves of the plant. In residence, these ants may protect the plant from insect predators.

LINKS
History and traditional uses of Noni in Tahiti: fact sheet on its distribution and lots of details on its medicinal uses, particularly in the Pacific islands.
Native Plants Used As Medicine in Hawaii by Beatrice H. Krauss: fact sheet
Bat Conservation International Products derived from plants visited by bats: fact sheet on uses.
Plants of Guam by Philip H. Moore and Patrick D. McMakin on the University of Guam website: brief fact sheet with photo.
Vegetation of Malaysian Lowlands: brief facts with photo.
Tico Ethnobotanical Dictionary: fact sheet on its medicinal and other uses.
Plants and their uses in the Marshalls Medicinal Plants compiled by Dirk H.R.Spennemann: brief list of uses.
Virtual Agro-Industrial Cluster on The Institute of Development Studies (Sabah) website: fact sheets on various herbal plants with beautiful drawings.
Canoe Plants of Ancient Hawaii: detailed fact sheet on history, traditional medicinal and other uses.
REFERENCES
To buy these references & others, visit
Nature's Niche
Wee Yeow Chin, "A Guide to Medicinal Plants", Singapore Science Centre, 1992 (p. 106: description, chemical compounds, uses, photo).
Dr E Soepadmo (ed.), "The Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Plants", Editions Didier Millet, 1998 (p. 16: seasonality).
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BENEFITS & NUTRIENTS OF HAWAIIAN NONI JUICE

Cancer
Fibromyalgia
Arthritis
High blood Pressure
Pain
Obesity
Sexual Dysfunction
Tuberculosis
Head Aches
Constipation
Chronic Fatigue
Depression
Addiction
Indigestion
Weight Loss
Allergies

NONI HEALING JUICE (MORINDA CITROFOLIA)
Nutrients Found in Noni Juice

Xeronine
Protects and keeps the shape and suppleness of protein molecules so that they may be able to pass through the cell walls and be used to form healthy tissue.

Sterols
Known for cholesterol-lowering effects and immune-improving properties, the latest studies tout sterols as aids for benign prostatic hyperplasia and as potential cancer preventives.

Terpenes
These substances combat fungal and bacterial infections, and are helpful in the treatment of glaucoma, spastic symptoms of multiple sclerosis, spinal lesions and in reducing the severity and side effects of chemotherapy.

Limonene
A cancer fighting compound and has been found to limit tumor formation

Selenium
An antioxidant know to have benefits in the areas of heart disease, cancer, arthritis and HIV.