Noni Fruit Reference Guide

Noni Juice Facts

Noni grows in shady forests as well as on open rocky and sandy shores. The plant usually reaches maturity at about 18 months and yields between 4-8 kg of fruit each month, throughout the year. The plant is tolerant of saline soils, drought conditions, and secondary soils. Therefore, it is found in a wide variety of habitats including volcanic terrains, lava-strewn coasts, and clearings or limestone outcrops. Noni plants can grow up to 9 m tall, and have large, simple, dark green, shiny, deeply veined leaves. The richest of the soils in which Noni grows are found in French Polynesia.

The flowers of a Noni plant are small and white. The fruit has a pungent odor when ripening and is often called “cheese fruit” or “vomit fruit.” The fruit is oval, reaching up to 4-7 cm in size. At first green, the fruit turns yellow then almost white as it begins to ripen and it contains many seeds.

Noni fruit is sometimes called “starvation fruit” because, despite its strong smell and bitter taste, the fruit is often eaten as a famine food and, in some Pacific Islands, even as a staple food, either raw or cooked. Southeast Asians and Australian Aborigines consume the Noni fruit raw with salt or cook it with curry. The seeds are edible when roasted.

The Noni plant is especially attractive to weaver ants, which make nests out of the leaves of the tree. These ants protect the plant from some insects. The smell of the fruit also attracts fruit bats, which aid in dispersing the seeds of the Noni plant.

In China, Samoa, Japan, and Tahiti, various parts of the Noni plant, including the leaves, flowers, fruits, bark, and roots are used as tonics and to contain fever, treat eye and skin problems, treat gum and throat problems and to treat constipation, stomach pain, and respiratory difficulties. In Malaysia, heated Noni leaves are applied to the chest to relieve coughs, nausea, and colic.

Throughout Indochina, the Noni fruit is taken for asthma, lumbago, and dysentery. As for external uses, unripe fruits are pounded then mixed with salt and applied to cuts and broken bones. In Hawaii, ripe fruits are applied to draw out pus from an infected boil. The green fruit, leaves and the root have traditionally been used to treat menstrual cramps and irregularities, among other symptoms, while the root has also been used to treat urinary problems.

Noni bark produces a brownish-purplish dye which is used for batik making and, on the Indonesian island of Java; the plant is cultivated for this purpose. In Hawaii, yellowish dye is extracted from the root in order to dye cloth. In Surinam and 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.

Recent studies have also shown that oil from Noni seeds is abundant in Linoleic acid, which, when applied topically, acts as an anti-inflammatory, acne reducer, and moisture retention agent. Scientific studies have also investigated Noni's effect on the growth of cancerous tissues and have shown Noni inhibited and reduced growth of the capillary vessels sprouting from human breast tumors causing the existing vessels to rapidly degenerate.

Another study showed that at least one brand of Noni juice prevented the formation of cancer cells in rats.