Noni (Morinda citrifolia)

Noni (Morinda citrifolia), which is also known as the Queen of the Morinda, is a tropical fruit. So far tended to use this fruit as a herbal medicine, rather than as a table fruit or fresh fruit consumption. Not difficult to find these fruit extracts in a variety of packaging in stores herbal medicine.

Polynesian peoples who inhabited the region believed to be among the first to take advantage of this fruit as a food ingredient.  Furthermore, this fruit spread in almost all tropical regions in Southeast Asia.

Characteristics of the tree:

All parts of the plant: roots, stems, leaves, and fruit can be used as a source of nutrients and has a neutraceutical effect.

Noni tree height between 4-6 m, trunk twisted, and knaggy stiff, rough and have stuck taproot deep into the soil. Skin color outside of the tree is grayish brown or yellowish. Shiny leaves thick, oblong-shaped, measuring 15-50 x 5-17 cm. Rounded hump-type flowers and generally grow in axillary panicles leverage. Usually leverage leaves growing confronted with normal leaves. Stamens petals imbedded in the mouth. Anthers have two nipples. The flower blooms from the petals shaped like bunches. The flowers are fragrant and white.

Noni tree reaches maturity in about 17-20 months regarding to its growing condition. Grows well in almost all-tropical location condition: shady forest, open rocky and sandy shores, Noni tree also tolerant of drought conditions, and both of saline soils or secondary soils,  even though this tree also can grow well in a coralline atoll.

The fruit:

In a peak of production time, a Noni tree can product 4 up to 9 kg of fruit every month throughout the year, Noni is not a seasonal fruit. The color of fruit is dark green when young and become more light up until reach pale yellow when rape. There are black spots around its fruit body.  This fruit grouped as stone fruit, the fruit pulp arranged of pyramid form stone fruits, reddish brown.  Once completely ripe and soft, the fruit pulp will contain a lot of water. In this condition the smell of fruit will be alike smell of rotten cheese, the smell was caused by a mixture of capric acid and caproic acid, the volatile lipid compounds.

Noni fruit contains a variety of compounds that are essential for health. The results proved that noni fruit contains secondary metabolites that are beneficial to health, nutrition as well as diverse as vitamin A, C, niacin, thiamine and riboflavin, and minerals such as iron, calcium, sodium, and potassium. Several types of phytochemical compounds in the noni fruit are terpenes, acubin, lasperuloside, alizarin, anthraquinone substances, ascorbic acid, caproic acid, caprylic acid, scopoletin substances, damnakantal, and alkaloids.

Scientific classification:

• Kingdom: Plantae (Plants)
•       Subkingdom: Tracheobionta (Vascular Plants)
•           Super Division: Spermatophyta (Produces seeds)
•               Division: Magnoliophyta (flowering plants)
•                   Class: Magnoliopsida (dashed two / dicots)
•                       Sub Class: Asteridae
•                           Order: Rubiales
•                               Family: Rubiaceae
•                                   Genus: Morinda
•                                        Species: Morinda citrifolia L.