Noni Fruit

Noni fruit is a fleshy and densely clustered globose syncarp. It is globose-ovoid, cone-like, yellowish white and somewhat gelatinous when ripe. Noni fruit contains seeds which have alkaloids, but not there are no alkaloids in the fruit itself. The fruit contains polysaccarides, scopoletin, vitamins and minerals. [1]

It takes about one year for fruit to develop on new trees. Once established, noni trees bear fruit year-round.

Some of the compounds identified in noni fruit include: acetic acid, asperuloside, benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol, butanoic acid (n-butyric acid), I-butanol, n-butyric acid, calcium, carotene, decanoic acid, 6-dodeceno-y -lactone 8,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid, elaidic acid, ethyl decanoate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, ethyl palmitate, (ethylthiomethyl) benzene, eugenol, glucose, heptanoic acid, 2-heptanone, hexadecane, hexanamide, hexanedioic acid, hexanoic acid, 1-hexanol, hexyl hexanoate, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, iron, isobutyric acid, isocaproic acid, isovaleric acid, lauric acid, limonene, linoleic acid, magnesium, 2-methylbutanoic acid, 2-methyl-2-butenyl decanoate, 2-methyl-2-butenyl hexanoate, 3-methyl-2-buten-l-ol, 3-methyl-3-buten-l-ol, methyl decanoate, methyl elaidate, methyl hexanoate, methyl 3-methylthio-propanoate, methyl octanoate, methyl oleate, methyl palmitate, 2-methylpropanoic acid, 3-methylthiopropanoic acid, myristic acid, nonanoic acid, octanoic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, paraffin, potassium, scopoletin, sodium, terpenoids , 2,5-undecadien-l-ol, undecanoic acid, n-valeric acid, vitamin C, and vomifoliol.

For a list of chemicals in all parts of the plant, see Dr. Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. (Type in the scientific name of noni, Morinda citrifolia. Note: You must click submit twice to see results.)

To learn more about the traditional uses of noni, please visit the Traditional Uses section of this site.

References

  1. University of Hawaii at Manoa. The Noni Web Site. (2004, December 6). Retrieved January 27, 2005, from http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/noni/botany.asp