Thursday, 12 February 2009


















Uses and benefits


Medicinal Purposes

In China, Samoa, Japan, and Tahiti, various parts of the tree (leaves, flowers, fruits, bark, roots) serve as tonics and to contain fever, to treat eye and skin problems, gum and throat problems as well as constipation, stomach pain, or respiratory difficulties. Dr. Joseph Bafz has revealed that Noni fruits contain antihistamin that very important to treat asthma, hayfever and rheumatism. In Malaysia, heated noni leaves applied to the chest are believed to relieve coughs, nausea, or colic. The noni fruit is taken, in Indochina especially, for asthma, lumbago, and dysentery. As for external uses, unripe fruits can be pounded, then mixed with salt and applied to cut or broken bones. In Hawaii, ripe fruits are applied to draw out pus from an infected boil. The green fruit, leaves and the root/rhizome have traditionally been used to treat menstrual cramps and irregularities, among other symptoms, while the root has also been used to treat urinary difficulties. The juice of the over-ripe fruit is consumed by women to regulate menstrual flow. It may also be taken to ease painful urination. Scientific studies have investigated noni's effect on the growth of cancerous tissue. One such study found that noni inhibited and reduced growth of the capillary vessels sprouting from human breast tumor explants and, at increased concentrations, the noni caused existing vessels to rapidly degenerate. Other preparations of the Mengkudu fruit are used to treat haemorrhages.

Another scientific study showed one brand of noni juice to have prevented formation of cancer cells in rats (using detection methods of bio-chemical markers called DNA adducts). It further showed to reduce the number of DNA adducts in rats induced with carcinogenic DMBA, in some cases, by up to 90%. The same study then also looked at the effective anti-oxidant properties of this Tahitian Noni brand of noni juice, (via LPO and TNB-SAR assays) comparing with the free-radical properties of vitamin C, grape seed powder (GSP), and pycnogenol (PYC) at the daily dose per serving level recommended by U.S. RDAs or manufacturers. This noni juice brand was shown to be more effective than all three. Their conclusion: "The results suggest that prevention of carcinogen-DNA adduct formation and the antioxidant activity of TNJ may contribute to the cancer preventive effect of Morinda citrifolia.

In Island of Carribean, Noni was known as ‘pain killer tree’ because of their widely uses in medicinal such as fever and so on. For people in SEA region, Noni can be used for oral problem, menstrual problem and so on. The result from the research of Dr. Isabella Abboft, Noni can be used for diabhetes, cancer and high blood pressure patients. The ability of Noni as pain killer is due to the chemical contain which is xeronine. Xeronine will help in activation of protein such as in brain.




Food Products


The young leaves used as a side supplement in main menu (ulaman). In Burma, they cooked the young fruits and eat the matured fruits with salt. But, the Noni fruits become as a main foods in some countries like Fiji and Samoa Island. Beside that, Noni has a complete set of nutrition that we need such as carbohydrate, protein, minerals and unsaturated fat. Selenium is the one example for important minerals that found in the Noni fruit. Noni fruits was made as a juice and pills for healthy products.

Mona Harrison, M.D., Ph.D., a former dean of Medical Faculty, University of Boston, said that Noni juice can induced the malatonin and seratonin which can be used for soporofit. It can delayed the senecent process.
According to Dr. Ralph Heincke, revealed that the liquid contents in mengkudu can supply our body with proxeronine which can be synthesised into xeronine alcaloid. There are many functions of this xeronine. For example,in order to absorb the endorphine and act as a co-hormon for energy activation. This biochemical process is the most important process by mengkudu. As until today, mengkudu is the one of the best important source for xeronine compared to the pineapple.


Other uses

The bark of the great morinda produces a brownish-purplish dye for batik making; on the Indonesian island of Java, the trees are cultivated for this purpose. In Hawaii, yellowish dye is extracted from its root in order to dye cloth. In Surinam and different other countries, the tree serves as a wind-break, as support for vines and as shade trees for coffee bushes. The fruit is used as a shampoo in Malaysia, where it is said to be helpful against head lice. Women in the rural areas also use the fruit to make shampoo as they believe it is good for the hair There have been recent applications also for the use the oil from noni seeds. The noni seed oil is abundant in linoleic acid, found in products in the beauty industry, as research points to its affective properties when applied topically on the skin, ie. anti-inflammatory, acne reduction, moisture retention properties.

1 comment:

  1. hi ther...enjoyed reading all ur articles..ur plants are something really new to me..Several things have been highlighted by u 2 emphasis its importance..Tats good!but d colour x match wit the background la fren..sakit mata a bit onlie..he he he

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