Mengkudu

The common Mengkudu often called the Mengkudu Besar or scientifically known as 
Morinda citrifolia is native to Malaysia, Australia and Polynesia.  It can be 
found throughout the tropics.  Elsewhere, it is called Nanu in Samoa and Tonga, 
Nono in Raratonga and Tahiti, Noni in the Marquesas Islands and Hawaii and Nhau 
(pronounced as Now) in many parts of South East Asia.  It is cultivated in some 
parts of India and is often referred to as the Indian Mulberry.  The Polynesians 
regard the plant as sacred and practically all parts of the plant (the barks, 
the leaves, the roots and especially the fruits) are edible to them.  In 
Myanmar, unripe fruits are cooked in curries and the ripe ones are eaten fresh 
with salt.  I have not tried them with salt, and as far as I could remember, it 
had a rather disgusting taste.  It happened one afternoon after school (way back 
in the sixties) when I saw a neighbour's daughter eating a fruit.  Teasingly I 
enquired, "Makan apa tu?"  and she replied, "Buah Mengkudu.  Sedap.  Cubalah,"  
pointing to the plant at her fence.  I plucked a ripe one and took a bite.  
Instantly I spat out the whole thing!  She was laughing out loud showing me that 
it was an apple she was eating!!  The fully ripened fruit is really juicy but 
the smell is a little repulsive for me.  I have never tried it since, perhaps 
someday and with a few grains of salt.

The young leaves are used quite comonly as ulam in the east coast.  It has a 
wide range of minerals (deficient only in Sodium) and vitamins (deficient only 
in Niacin).  Refer to the Nutritive Values of Ulam (July/August issue of 
Nature's Voice).  It has a fibre content of 3% and is one of the highest among 
of our ulams; the highest I know is the terong pipit (Solanum torvum) with 
almost 9% fibre.  

The finely shredded young leaves of the mengkudu are often used as kerabu and 
for nasi ulam.  The Thais squeeze out the juice from the older leaves for their 
`Khao Jiam', their version of Nasi Kerabu giving it a darkish hue.  Some prefer 
to consume it either fresh or lightly blanched, with sambal.  Some local folks 
also blanch the unripe fruit and sliced them thickly to be eaten with either 
sambal belacan or budu sauce.  I was told that raw fruits can be used to treat 
diabetes.   

The mengkudu belongs to the family Rubiaceae.  It is a small tree and can grow 
to a height of about 7-8 meters and has a beautiful 

ovoid or somewhat conical outline.  The bark, although glabrous, has 
characteristic deep fissures like those of the tembusu tree (Fragrea fragrans).  
The leaves are simple, large, elliptical or ovate and shiny. The plant flowers 
and fruits all year round.  Flowers are small and white and in heads with long 
corolla tube of slightly more than half a centimetre in length.  The lumpy fruit 
is about 9 to 10 cm in length and can be longer with a diameter of about 4 to 5 
cm.  The green fruit will eventually turn yellowish and white when ripened.  It 
is actually a fusion of smaller fruits each with a prominent polygonal outline 
and a "black-eye" rather close to that of a pineapple or that of an Irish 
potato.  There is also the Mengkudu Kecil, another species (Morinda elliptica) 
with narrower and more elliptical leaves and smaller fruit size.

What is now creating a global wave is the fruit.  If you surf through the 
internet searching for Noni, you will not be disappointed with thousands or even 
millions of sites with related articles.  The fruit contains large quantities of 
alkaloid proxeronine and enzyme proxeronase which can be converted into 
xeronine, which according to Dr. Ralph Heinicke, is important for proper 
functioning of body cells.  Dr. Heinicke has been doing research in Hawaii on 
the alkaloid for 45 years.  Not surprisingly the upsurge of Noni juices by 
countless companies mostly from Hawaii and Tahiti, each with their own claims of 
all sorts ranging from a cure for arthritis to hypertension, cancer and even for 
HIV treatments.  The list of ailments is too long to be listed here and too 
incredible to believe, but there are tons of testaments from the public vouching 
the efficacy of Noni juice.  I.H. Burkhill did mention in his Dictionary of 
Economic Plants that many parts of the plants can be used medicinally, and in 
India, it is cultivated for the roots that support the dye industry in that 
country.  There was also a claim that damnacanthol, a chemical constituent 
isolated from its roots, is effective in reverting cancerous cells back to 
normal.

While many researchers and companies through their own scientific studies 
supported that the Noni fruit juice has amazing and potent phytochemicals for 
various ailments, some refuted the claims saying that they are just mere 
exaggerated advertising.  Dr. Steven M. Hall, M.D. is one who alleges that not 
much is known of the constituents of the Noni fruit and that the Noni juice has 
not been proven to be therapeutically significant in any cures.  For that 
reasons, he prefers the Tahitian name -- No No!		......................... 
by Koon Hup
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