Ingredient Information

Function

The fruit of the plant is eaten either raw or cooked. When eaten raw it is usually dipped with salt (Indochina, Australian Aborigines); or when cooked it is curried. The young leaves can also be eaten as a vegetable and contain protein. The seeds may be roasted and eaten.

Nori, Morinda citrifolia, Indian mulberry, nono, nonu, cheese fruit, Ba Ji Tian, Beach Mulberry, Morinda, Noni Fruit, Noni Juice, Tahitian Noni, Mengkudu, Hog apple, Wild Pine, Meng Koedoe, Mora de la Indi and Ruibarbo Caribe.

Other Use and Industries

The bark of the Great Morinda produces a reddish purple and brown dye. In Hawaii, a yellowish dye was also extracted from the roots and also used to dye cloth. The tree is also purposely planted to provide support for pepper vines and shade tree for coffee bushes. The fruits may also be fed to pig livestock. The pulp of fruit maybe used for cleaning hair, iron, or steel.

Health Effects

No part of this plant goes wasted. The stem, fruit, bark, and leaves are used in herbal remedies and Polynesian folk medicine. Nori can cope with inflammation, swellings, filariasis, elephantiasis, high blood pressure and conditions of aging. In some researches it has also shown very promising anti-cancer activity. Nori appears to prevent and protect from different cardiovascular diseases. The plant is used as a general pain reliever. Some researches state that it can help when during depression, addiction, and headaches. But there is no reliable clinical evidence in the available medical literature to support these claims. There is also no clinical evidence that Nori juice is effective in preventing or treating cancer or any other disease in humans. In different countries Nori is used for different ailments. In India the plant is mainly used as a remedy for asthma and dysentery. In the US Nori juice is very popular as a dietary and nutritional supplement, general tonic, stress reliever, and facial and body cleanser. In Malaysia Nori serves as a relief for cough, nausea, or colic, and is even a remedy for head lice. In China, Samoa, Japan, and Tahiti, different parts of the plant are used as tonics and to contain fever, to treat eye and skin problems, and gum and throat problems, as well as constipation, stomach pain, or respiratory difficulties.

Nori plant contains the antibacterial compounds in the fruits (acubin, L-asperuloside and alizarin) and roots (anthrauinones). Noni contains scopoletin which inhibits the growth of Escherichia coli, which is responsible for intestinal infections, and Heliobacter pylori, which causes ulcers. Damnacanthal, which is found in the noni roots has antitumor activity.

Origins

Nori is assumed to have originated in Southeast Asia and was distributed throughout the Pacific islands by natural and man-made means. Approximately 2,000 years ago, ancient peoples of French Polynesia brought the nori plant with them as a source of food and medicine when they colonized the islands of the South Pacific. Written documentation about the use of nori as food dates back to the late 1700s when Captain James Cook observed that the fruit was consumed in Tahiti. Subsequent publications indicate that nori fruit was commonly eaten in Fiji, Roratonga, Samoa, Australia, and India.

The Nori plant is a small evergreen shrub or tree that grows from 3 to 6 meters. It has a straight trunk, large elliptical leaves, white tubular flowers and ovoid yellow fruits of up to 12 cm in diameter. The ripe fruit has a not so pleasant taste. The fruit has a pungent odor when ripening, smells absolutely terrible, which is why Noni is well known as cheese fruit or vomit fruit. The plant flowers and fruits all year. It is considered one of the most beautiful plants of the islands and is an important component of traditional Polynesian garden. Nori can grow and thrive under conditions in which few other plants can survive. The plant grows in shady forests as well as on open rocky or sandy shores.