Panic continues as Noni spreads Outbreak

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Noni grows in shady forests as well as on open rocky or sandy shores. It reaches maturity in about 18 months and then yields between 48 kilograms (8.818 lb) of fruit every month throughout the year. It is tolerant of saline soils, drought conditions, and secondary soils. It is therefore found in a wide variety of habitats: volcanic terrains, lava-strewn coasts, and clearings or limestone outcrops. It can grow up to 9 metres (30 ft) tall, and has large, simple, dark green, shiny and deeply veined leaves.

The plant flowers and fruits all year round and produces a small white flower. The fruit is a multiple fruit that has a pungent odor when ripening, and is hence also known as cheese fruit or even vomit fruit. It is oval and reaches 47 centimetres (1.62.8 in) in size. At first green, the fruit turns yellow then almost white as it ripens. It contains many seeds. It is sometimes called starvation fruit. Despite its strong smell and bitter taste, the fruit is nevertheless eaten as a famine food and, in some Pacific islands, even a staple food, either raw or cooked. Southeast Asians and Australian Aborigines consume the fruit raw with salt or cook it with curry. The seeds are edible when roasted.

The noni is especially attractive to weaver ants, which make nests out of the leaves of the tree. These ants protect the plant from some plant-parasitic insects. The smell of the fruit also attracts fruit bats, which aid in dispersing the seeds.

Noni fruit powder is high in carbohydrates and dietary fiber. According to the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, a 100g sample of the powder contains 71% carbohydrate and 36% fiber. The sample also contained 5.2% protein and 1.2% fat.

These macronutrients evidently reside in the fruit pulp, as noni juice has sparse amounts of macronutrients.

The main micronutrients of noni pulp powder include 9.81mg of vitamin C per 1200mg sample, as well as 0.048mg niacin (vitamin B3), 0.02mg iron and 32.0mg potassium. Vitamin A, calcium and sodium are present in moderate amounts.

When noni juice alone is analyzed and compared to pulp powder, only vitamin C is retained at a high level, 33.65mg per 100g of juice.

Although the most significant nutrient feature of noni pulp powder or juice is its high vitamin C content, noni fruit juice provides only about half the vitamin C of a raw navel orange. Sodium levels in the noni juice blend (about 3% of DRI) are multiples of those in an orange. Although the potassium content appears relatively high for noni, this total is only about 3% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance and so would not be considered excessive. Noni juice is otherwise similar in micronutrient content to a raw orange.

Noni fruit contains a number of phytochemicals, including lignans, oligo- and polysaccharides, flavonoids, iridoids, fatty acids, scopoletin, catechin, beta-sitosterol, damnacanthal, and alkaloids. Although these substances have been studied for bioactivity, current research does not conclude anything about their effects on human health.

Laboratory experiments demonstrated that dietary noni juice increased physical endurance in mice.

Noni has increasingly stimulated the interest of medical science, with 145 papers published since 1994 and 55 just since 2006 (search "noni" and "morinda"; PubMed search, January 2008). Despite the large market for juice products and research developments, the nutrient and phytochemical profiles of noni have not been extensively studied.

Furthermore, 1) numerous health claims made in noni juice marketing are not supported by scientific research and 2) in human clinical trials, only one cancer study completed under NIH peer-review in 2006 has been conducted, the results of which remain unpublished as of August 2007.

Likewise, in a university-based pilot study funded by the noni juice manufacturer, Tahitian Noni International, Inc., it was shown that noni juice consumption may lower blood cholesterol levels. Completed in 2006, however, the results of this study have not been published under peer-review and have met critical judgment by experts.

Laboratory studies have investigated noni's effect on the growth of cancerous tissue in mice. One such study in vitro found that noni reduced growth of capillary vessels sprouting from human breast tumor explants and, at increased concentrations, caused existing vessels to degenerate. It remains unknown whether such effects occur in vivo in other animal models or in cancer patients.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noni
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noni_juice

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