Noni Juice

Description

Morinda citrofolia

Noni is the term used in Samoa and Tonga for Morinda citrifolia, or the Indian Mulberry bush.

It grows throughout Australasia, the South Pacific and even the Caribbean.

Common Names:

Hog apple
Indian mulberry
Mengkoedoe
Mora de la India
Morinda
Noni
Pain killer
Ruibarbo caribe
Wild pine

Description:

Morinda citrifolia is an evergreen bush which can grow to 15 or 20 feet in height. The leaves are dark green and glossy. It has fragrant, white flowers when in bloom.

The fruit is naturally bitter and has a distinctive odor. The green, unripened fruit is picked for processing. When ripe it is creamy white, with a fleshy, gel-like consistency. The seeds survive long periods being transported by ocean currents.

Virtually every part of the bush has been used, traditionally: bark, leaves, flowers, fruit and seeds. Juice from the fruit appears to be the most marketable in the West, a market which has emerged only recently, really in 1996 and 1997.

Traditionally, the seeds were used for their purgative action.

The leaves were used medicinally, as a poultice to treat external inflammations and to relive pain (including sun burn). In cuisine, they are also used to wrap fish and as a vegetable dish in their own right.

The bark has astringent properties and was also used to treat malaria.

The root extract was used to lower blood pressure.

The flower essence was used to relive eye inflammations.

The fruit was nothing short of a universal panacea.

Skin care products are being added, while traditional and modern uses are dealt with under: "Therapeutic Approaches".

Method of Action

As a fruit, Noni contains vitamin C and a number of enzymes and other ingredients. The search for the key ingredient began in the pineapple industry of Hawaii. Around 1972, Dr. Heinicke was attempting to identify the unknown ingredient in "Bromelain" which gives crude preparations of this enzyme their potent pharmacological properties.

Eventually, he identified this ingredient as a new alkaloid "Xeronine". Noticing that the clinical claims of efficacy from Bromelain and Noni were practically identical, he repeated the same techniques on Noni fruit. The technique worked! Not only was he able to isolate the same compound from Noni fruit, but the yields were excellent. Today Noni is one of the best raw materials to use for the isolation of Xeronine.

Even though Noni fruits have a negligible amount of free Xeronine, they contain appreciable amounts of the precursor of Xeronine, also named by Dr. Heinickle: "Pro-xeronine".

Noni fruits also contain the inactive form of the enzyme which releases Xeronine from Proxeronine. Unless this proenzyme becomes properly activated, however, Noni Juice will cause few pharmacological reactions.

Dr. Heinicke asserts that the xeronine in morinda opens brain receptor sites, allowing the brain to receive more of the hormone endorphin which brings the feeling of well being.

Dr. Heinicke explains that xeronin also helps form a specific protease which removes dead tissue from burns, speeding recovery.

Aucubin was one of the several compounds found in morinda that possess the antibacterial activity.

Damnacanthal, also found in the Morinda Citrifolia (Noni), has proven to be an inhibitor of ras function.on the K-ras-NRK cell, (a precursor to certain types of cancer).

Morinda works slowly. It must be taken consistently for a period of 6-8 weeks before results can be seen.

Therapeutic Approaches

Dr. Heinicke recommends drinking 100 ml half an hour before breakfast.

If Noni Juice is taken on an empty stomach, the critical proenzyme escapes digestion in the stomach and enters the intestines. Here the chances are high that it may become activated.

Commercial products generally recommend 1 or 2 oz. taken by itself once a day on an empty stomach, or mixed in fruit juice.

Traditional Uses

Noni Juice has been used for centuries by native Samoan, Hawaiian, Tahitian, and South Seas Islanders to maintain optimal health.

Traditional Polynesia healers have used the fruit of the noni plant for thousands of years to address a variety of health disorders such as:

aging, arthritis, bruises, diabetes, high blood pressure, menstrual cramps, poor digestion, skin afflictions, sprains and many more. It is considered a strong blood purifier, and cleanses the body of harmful bacteria.

Modern Uses

This listing is even more comprehensive:

Aging a veritable Fountain Of Youth

Aid In Cell Regeneration

Analgesic effect

Antibacterial ( effective against 7 different kinds)

Antiseptic

Anti - fungal and anti-parasitic

Bone and Join Complaints:

·Arthritis
·Broken Bones (Fractures)
·Sprains

Chest Infections:

·Cough
·Tuberculosis
·Asthma
·Respiratory Afflictions

Diabetes

Digestive System:

·Diarrhea
·Intestinal Parasites
·Indigestion
·Stomach Ulcers

Eye Infections

Fevers

Flu

Headache

High Blood Pressure

Kidney and Bladder

Malignancies or Tumors

Mouth and Throat Infections:

·Gingivitis
·Inflamed, sore gums
·Sore throat with cough
·Thrush
·Toothache

Skin Infections and Inflammations:

·Abrasions
·Abscess
·Blemishes
·Boil,
·Carbuncle
·Infections
·Wounds,

Women's Health:

·Childbirth and Pregnancy
·Menstrual Cramps
·Regulate Menstrual Flow

Dr. Heinicke has commented as follows:

"Some of the problems which drinking Noni juice might favorably affect are: high blood pressure, menstrual cramps, arthritis, gastric ulcers, sprains, injuries, mental depression, senility, poor digestion, atherosclerosis, blood vessel problems, drug addiction, relief of pain, and many others. Although this list looks like a page torn out of a traveling medicine man's manual, it is probably conservative. "

Toxicity Factors

It is, basically, a raw fruit juice, although the natural form has a distinct "medicinal flavor" making it totally unpalatable to Western taste buds. The modern, commercial product has had these factors removed and flavor added while, at the same time, preserving the potency.

In thousands of years, no ill effects have been recorded.

The extract has definitively been shown to be non-toxic in modern scientific studies.

Abstracts

References

Alona Abbott,I: La'an Hawaii Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants.

Dittmar, A: Morinda Citrifolia L - Use in Indigenous Samoan Medicine, Journal of Herbs and Medicinal Plants, 1993 Vol. 1(3):89-91.

Elkins, R. Noni (Morinda citrifolia): Prize Herb of the South Pacific. Woodland Health Series. Pleasant Grove, UT. 1997.

Facts and Comparisons. The Lawrence Review of Natural Products. Oct, 1997.

Hatch,A: Noni, Morinda citrifolia and officinalis. Handout (October 1996)

Heinicke, RM: The Pharmacologically Active Ingredient of Noni. "Morinda" in Nature's Field (March/April 97).

T. Hiramatsu et al., Induction of normal phenotypes in RAS_transformed cells by damnacanthal from Morinda citrifolia. Cancer Letters 73 (1993) 161-166.

Hirazumi, A et al., AntiCancer Activity of Morinda Citrifolia on Intraperitoneally implanted Lewis Lung Carcinoma in Syngenic Mice Proc. West Pharmacol. Soc. (1994). 37: 145-146.

Levand, O & Larson, HO: Some chemical constituents of Morinda Citrifolia. U of Guam & Hawaii.

Mala L'au: A Garden of Hawaiian Healing Plants, 1996

Morton,J: The Ocean-Going Noni, or Indian Mulberry (Morinda Citrifolia Rubiaceae) and Some of Its Colorful Relatives, Econ. Bot. 46(3) pp. 241-256, 1992

Srivastava, M et al., Int. J of Pharmacognosy, 1993, 31(3):182-184.

Younos, C et al: Analgesic and Behavioral Effects of Morinda Citrifolia. Planta Medica 56 (1990) 430-434.