International Journal of Noni Research - Noni Family

79 Intl. J. Noni Res. 2007, 2(1-2)
D.R.Singh et al. Peptide and Mineral profile of Morinda citrifolia fruits and leaves
Peptide profile of leaf and fruits
The water extract of fruit and leaves were run in HPLC; C-18 column to study
the peptide profile. The following di-peptide, tri-peptdie and pentapeptide profile
were obtained such as Ly-Tyr, val-Tyr-Val, Meth-Enkaphalin, Leu- Enkaphalin
and Angiotensin. The concentration of each peptide is presented in table 3.
High level of tri-peptide Val-Tyr-Val was found in leaf extract (15.856 ppm). In
the fruit the level of pentapeptide Leu-Enkepahlin (3.697 ppm) was found to
be more. An enkephalin is a pentapeptide ending with either leucine (“leu”)
(Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu) or methionine (“met”) (Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met). Both are
a product of the proenkephalin gene.Meth-Enkaphalin is an endogenous opiod
neurotransmitter, neuromodulator, also enhances antibody response and
immune system function and also function as growth factor (Beck et.al., 2001).
Enkephalins play many roles in regulating pain.The peptide analysis of the
M.citrifolia may be useful in studying various alkaloids present in the fruits and
leaves and will be of use in studying the effect of Morinda extract in immune
system regulation. Overall, the peptide concentration of the leaf extract was
found to be more than the fruit extract except the Ly-Tyr which is more in fruit
than in leaf.
Physico-chemical properties of soil
The physico-chemical properties of the soils revealed that the soils are of acidic
in nature with pH varied from 4.6-6.1. The average organic carbon content of
all the soils was recorded to be greater than 0.75 while the soil moisture varied
from 18-23%. The mineral profile of the soil in general is reported to be more
than the normal level in almost all the soil. Except the concentration of sodium
and zinc the level of all other mineral were found to be in normal range (Table
4). The level of Zn was very low in all the soils except the soil of accession
WAND-4(17.82 ppm) which was recorded to be very high. Very high level of
mineral such as Ca, Mg and Fe was detected in almost all the soil. The maximum
level of K was detected in soil of accession SPG-2 (151.1 ppm) while the
lowest level was detected in soil of accession PBAY-7 (29.50 ppm). Overall, the
level of all the micro and macro mineral profile of the soil was normal except
for few minerals such as Na and Zn.
Nutrient analyses for a major brand of noni juice (Tahitian Noni Juice, TNJ)
were published in 2002 by the Scientific Committee on Food of the European
Commission on Health and Consumer Protection (ECHCP). The report suggest
that the whole fruit powder has excellent level of carbohydrates and dietary
fiber, protein (12% DRI), low in fat (4% DRI).The macro nutrients is present
in sparse amount. The pulp of the fruit is reported to contain high level of Vit.C,
niacin (Vit. B3), Fe while K, Vit.A, Ca and Na present in moderate amount. In