Noni Juice

Where noni came from

Noni juice is thought to have been drunk in Hawaii, The Cooks, Tahiti and other Pacific islands for at least 500 years.

Noni juice researchers think it came into these islands from India and South East Asia. How it spread through the Pacific region is not at all clear, although some experts feel travelers and settlers from the Marquesas Islands brought noni juice to the islands.

But what is clear, is that from ancient times noni and noni juice was widely used in the Pacific region. In fact, because of its value and popularity, noni was cultivated in plantations and home gardens.

Noni in ancient times

The early Polynesians (like their descendants) drank noni juice and used noni for food, for dying cloth and as a medicine and healing plant. The scientific literature is full of hundred of references to a popularity of noni and noni juice among many ancient societies in the tropical regions of the world.

Noni juice in ancient India

With the origin of noni thought to be India, we are not surprised to find that ancient Indians used M. Citrifolia for its healing properties. Indeed, the medical people of India eventually said almost all parts of the noni plant could heal. The root was used as a cathartic and febrifuge (fever-reducing) agent. Juice from noni leaves, rubbed externally over affected parts in gout patients, relieved pain, the medical doctors claimed. And they used noni leaves were used as a tonic, febrifuge, and healer of wounds and ulcers for healing. Noni fruit and juice was taken to heal spongy gums, throat complaints, dysentery, leucorrhea (which is unusual menstrual bleeding) and sapraemia (poisoning of the blood by bacterial putrefaction).

Noni juice on the Pacific atolls

In early Fijian society noni fruit was eaten raw or cooked. In Niue the people regularly ate noni, and Filipinos made a jam from noni juice (in fact they are said to have especially valued the taste of fermented noni.

Noni juice in Australia, SE Asia and Africa

Australian aborigines were known to be very fond of noni juice and noni. In Burma, raw noni was cooked in curry, the ripe noni fruit was eaten with a pinch of salt, and noni seeds were roasted and enjoyed. were consumed raw with salt.

Noni juice and noni fruit was used in Nigeria to treat fever, malaria, yellow fever, jaundice and dysentery.

Other uses of noni in ancient medicine lore

In still other places, over-ripe noni was recommended to induce vomiting (as an emmenagogue) and some doctors used noni juice to help painful urination (dysuria) and noni fruit for diabetes. And it was recommended internally for swollen spleen, liver diseases, coughs and a slightly laxative preparation.