MORINDA (Morinda Citrifolia)
The morinda or better known commercially as ‘noni’ belongs to the
Rubiaceae family and is native to the Pacific Islands, It is grown for the
production of multi-colored dyes which are extracted from various parts of the
plant. In India and Indonesia, it is cultivated as a crop for their textile and
batik industries. It is also grown in
many parts of SE Asia and Australia as an ornamental and decorative plant. It is an evergreen tree that can grow to a
height of 8 meters. It has dark green, elliptical and shiny leaves. The flowers
are small, white with 5 to 7 petals and are found in clusters on the heads of
the fruit. When pollination has finally taken place, the fleshy bases of the
flowers swell until finally, an ovate, compound fruit is developed. The fruit
looks more like a potato with many “eyes” on its skin. The mature fruit is
about 8 cm in length with the base having a width of 5 cm. It has a shiny light
yellowish-green colour with many small cylindrical brown seeds embedded in the
pulp of the fruit. The fruit is edible but has a bitter taste. It is used in
Malay traditional medicine to cure stomach ailments or sometimes added in as part of "Ulam" (Malay traditional salad comprising various medicinal plants). It is now popularly
promoted as a health drink.