International Journal of Noni Research - Noni Family

5 Intl. J. Noni Res. 2007, 2(1-2)
P. Rethinam et al. Noni (Morinda citrifolia L.) - the Miracle Fruit - a holistic review
plant parts are used in the treatment of various diseases and disorders. The
fruit is important because of its wide range of therapeutic potentials such as
anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-tumor, anti-helminthes, analgesic, hypertensive,
anti-inflammatory and immune enhancing effects. Use of Noni fruit juice from
unripe or ripe fruit
is a more recent innovation and is recently accepted in the European Union
as a novel food. The roots are being used to synthesize red dye while the
leaves, bark, and fruits are used to produce facial creams, soaps, toothpaste,
lotions, tea powder and various other products. Abbott (1992) reported that
Noni has been used as drink, food, medicine and dye. In the past decade
the global popularity of Noni has increased dramatically (Dixon et. al.,1999
and Clatchey, 2002). There are many Noni based products like health
products, home care products, ,food products, health support products, fruit
drinks, cosmetics like body care, oral line, face line, hand line, feet line etc.,
(Vigneshwari and Peter, 2007).
Common Names In India
Tamil - Nuna, Manjanathi, Manjanuna, Telugu-Bandamaddi, Maddicettu, Mogali,
Molugu ,Malayalam-Kakai palam, Kattapitalavam,Mannanatti, Kanada-
Haladipavete, Tagatemara, Hindi- Ach, Awl, Sanskrit-Ach, Paphanah, Achchhuka,
Marathi- Aseti, Nagkura, Mundari, Salidaru.
Local names for Morinda citrifolia L
It is known in different names locally as Cheese Fruit, Forbidden Fruit,
Headache Tree, Hog Apple, Mona, Mora de la India, Nino, Nona, Nono,
Nonu, Nuna, Pain Bush, Pain Killer Tree, Pinuela, Wild Pine, etc. in various
parts of the world. It is also called as Indian Mulberry (Mathivanan et. al.,
2005).
Distribution of Morinda
The species is generally found from sea level to 400 m above MSL, although
it adapts better to coastal regions (Lu¨ berck and Hannes, 2001). Noni is an
evergreen tree and is often found growing along lava flows. Bulk of the crop
is wild and adapts to hardy environment and soil conditions. It can be found
naturally in disturbed forests, alien grass lands, open areas near the shore
lines, pastures, coconut plantations, littoral forests, fallow areas and in waste
lands (Cambie and Ash, 1994). The genus Morinda is distributed worldwide
with 80 species reported so far, predominantly in tropical countries. It occurs
in Africa, Australia, Barbados, Cambodia, Caribbean, Cayman Islands, Cuba,