Throughout tropical regions, virtually every part of Morinda citrifolia was used to treat disease or injury. Its curative properties were well known and commonly employed. PatoaTama Benioni, a member of the Maori tribe from the Cook Islands and a lecturer on island plants explains: Traditionally Polynesians use Noni for basically everything in the treatment of illness. Noni is a part of our lives. Any Polynesian boy will tell you he’s had experience with it.
We use juice from its roots, its flowers, and its fruit… my grandmother taught me to use Noni from the roots and the leaves to make medicine for external as well as internal use, and for all kinds of ailments, such as coughs, boils, diseases of the skin, and cuts.
• Noni was frequently utilized for its anti-parasitic activity.
• Respiratory ailments, coughs, and colds were treated with Noni.
• A juice made from pounding Noni leaves, roots and fruit mixed with water was administered for diarrhea.
• Dried and powdered forms of the bark mixed with water and administered with a spoon treated infant diarrhea.
• Small pieces of fruit and root infused with water were given to kill intestinal parasites.
• Boiled bark decoctions were given as a drink for stomach ailments.
• Coughs were treated with grated bark.
• Charred unripe fruit was used with salt on diseased gums.
• Pounded fruit combined with kava and sugar cane was used to treat tuberculosis.
• Babies were rubbed with fresh, crushed leaves for serious chest colds accompanied by fever.
• Eye washes were made from decoctions for eye complaints from flower extracts.
• Leaf infusions were traditionally taken to treat adult fevers.
• A mouthwash consisting of crushed ripe fruit and juice was used for inflamed gums in young boys.
• Pounded leaf juice was used for adult gingivitis.
• Sore throats were treated by chewing the leaves and swallowing the juice.
• Skin abscesses and boils were covered with leaf poultices.
• Swelling was controlled with leaf macerations.
• Heated leaves were often used for arthritic joins and for ringworm.
A Timely Reemergence
Today, the natural pharmaceutical actions of the chemical constituents contained in Noni are scientifically emerging as valuable botanical medicines. Tahitian Noni” intrigued medical practitioners decades ago; however, due to the eventual emergence of synthetic drugs, interest in this island botanical diminished until recent years.
Ethno botanists are once again rediscovering why Hawaiian people have treasured and cultivated Morinda citrifolia for generations. Noni is now finding its way into western therapeutics and is referred to as the queen” of the genus Rubiaceae. Its ability to reduce joint inflammation and target the immune system has made it the focus of the modern scientific inquiry. Dr. Ralph Heinicke has conducted some fascinating studies on the chemical constituents of the Hawaiian Noni fruit. His research centers on the proxeronine content of the fruit juice and how it profoundly influences human physiology.
In addition, scientific studies investigating Noni as an anti-cancer agent have been encouraging. Its conspicuous attributes and varied uses have elevated its status to one of the best of the healing herbs. Today Morinda citrifolia is available in liquid, juice, freeze dried capsules, or oil forms, and is considered one of natures most precious botanicals. But again the liquid has the highest absorption and is most effective. |