Noni

Common names: Noni also is known as morinda, hog apple, Indian mulberry, mengkoedoe, mora de la India, pain killer, ruibarbo caribe, and wild pine.

Efficacy-safety rating:

ÒÒ...Ethno or other evidence of efficacy.

Safety rating:

What is Noni?

The noni plant, native to Asia, Australia, and Polynesia (eg, Tahiti), is a treelike shrub. The plants white flowers are tubular, with conelike heads. The fruit is yellow-white in color, oval in shape, about the size of a potato, and has a “bumpy” surface. The ripened fruit has a characteristic cheese-like, offensive odor.

What is Noni used for?

It is believed that Polynesian healers have used noni fruits for thousands of years to help treat a variety of health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, digestive and liver ailments, headache (local application of leaves on forehead), as well as arthritis (by wrapping the leaves around affected joints), and aging. Ancient healing manuscripts cite the fruit as a primary ingredient in natural healing formulations. The fruit of the plant is used as a food, layered in sugar. Leaves also are consumed raw or cooked. The roots yield a red dye, the bark, a yellow dye. Today, fruit preparations are sold as juice, in dried “fruit-leather” form, and as a dry extract in capsules.

Current literature claims noni is beneficial for immune system function, anticancer activity, and for its anthelmintic (ejecting intestinal worms) effects. Clinical studies need to be performed to support these medicinal claims.

What is the dosage of Noni?

There is no clinical evidence to support specific dosage of noni, which is typically provided as a juice product.

Is Noni safe?

Contraindications have not yet been identified.

Information regarding safety and efficacy in pregnancy and lactation is lacking.

None well documented.

No information is available on the side effects of noni.

No information is available about the toxicity of noni. The fruit has long been reported as edible.

References

Copyright © 2006 Wolters Kluwer Health

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