WHAT IS NONI
- Noni is an evergreen tree that found in Southeast Asia and Australasia, and the species is now refined throughout the tropics and widely naturalized. It is also known as great Morinda Citrifolia, Indian mulberry, noni, beach mulberry, and cheese fruit.
- Morinda Citrifolia grows in shady forests, as well as on open rocky or sandy sea-shores. It reaches maturity in about 18 months, and then produces between 4 and 8 kg of fruit every month throughout the year. It is tolerant of salty lands and drought conditions. Therefore, it is found indifferent surroundings like volcanic landscapes, lava-strewn seashores, and clearings or limestone outcrops, as well as in coralline islands. It can grow up to 9 m (30 ft) tall, and has large, simple, dark green, shimmering and deeply patterned leaves.
- The Noni tree bears flowers and fruits all year round. The noni fruit has a strong smell when ripening, and is hence also known as cheese fruit or even vomit fruit. It is oval in shape and reaches 10–18 centimeters in size. At first green, it turns yellow then almost white as it fully ripens. It contains many seeds. It is sometimes called hunger fruit. Despite its strong smell and bitter taste, it is nevertheless eaten as a famine food and, in some Pacific islands, even a main food, either uncooked or cooked. Southeast Asians and Australian Aborigines consume the fruit uncooked with salt or cook it with curry. The seeds are edible when baked.
- Although the fruits of Noni are somewhat tasteless and have an unfriendly smell, they are eaten as famine food in Indonesia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. The new leaves are also eaten as a vegetable and contain 4 to 6% of protein.
- The Noni Fruit is consumed by the Hawaiians and Polynesians for thousands of years and now it is receiving more and more attention from researcher, medical physicians and scientists all around the world because number of scientific studies support that it has an amazing healing power and now more research is being conducted to find out how Noni fruit is helpful!