2778

12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3

Morinda citrifolia L.

This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Morinda in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.

Sp. pl. 1: 176 (1753).

Morinda bracteata Roxb. (1824).

Indian mulberry (En). Morinde (Fr). Indonesia: pace (Javanese), cangkudu (Sundanese), mengkudu (Malay). Malaysia: mengkudu besar, mengkudu jantan. Philippines: bankoro, tumbong-aso (Tagalog), apatot (Ilokano). Burma (Myanmar): al. Cambodia: nhoër srôk, nhoër thôm'. Laos: nhoo baanz. Thailand: yo baan (central), mataa-suea (northern), yae-yai (Karen, Mae Hong Son). Vietnam: nh[af]u l[os] chanh, ngao, nh[af]u n[us]i.

Morinda citrifolia is possibly indigenous in tropical Asia and tropical Australia. It may have been distributed by man and sea currents. It is naturalized in many tropical regions, and is now in fact almost pantropical.

In Indonesia, the fruits are eaten to treat diabetes and beri-beri, asthma, cough and other respiratory problems, and as an emmenagogue; the fruit extract is manufactured and sold in pharmacies. In the Philippines, the fruits are also used as an emmenagogue, the leaves to treat ulcers, and the leaf juice to treat arthritis. Morinda citrifolia is also important in traditional medicine in New Guinea: the roots are used to treat fever and centipede bites, and the leaves to treat sores, headache, pneumonia, fever and stomach-ache. In Thailand, an infusion or decoction of unripe fruits, sliced into thin pieces after drying, is applied as anti-emetic. In Vietnam, the fruits are used as an emollient, stomachic, aperient, and to treat dysentery and cough, the root-bark to treat hypertension, ostalgia and lumbago, and the leaves to treat dysentery, diarrhoea and furuncles. Morinda citrifolia is used for similar complaints in tropical America and Africa, and on many islands in the Pacific Ocean. The red dye from the root bark formerly played an important role in batik dyeing in Indonesia. Despite the smell of putrid cheese when ripe, the fruits are eaten raw or prepared, as are the leaves. The fruit pulp can be applied to cleanse hair, iron and steel. The wood is sometimes used for poles and fuel, and in Malaysia and Thailand, the tree is considered useful as a support for pepper plants.

A shrub or small tree up to 8(—12) m tall; leaves elliptical to elliptical-lanceolate or ovate, (10—)15—30(—50) cm x 4—17 cm; inflorescence solitary in axils of stipules often opposite normally developed leaves, peduncled; corolla tube slightly longer than lobes, white; compound fruit ovoid, up to 10 cm x 6 cm, whitish-yellow or whitish-green. Morinda citrifolia occurs in various habitats, along seashores and in secondary vegetation near the coast, usually introduced and naturalized, but also up to 1500 m altitude.

[121]Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co- operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A—H) pp. 1—1240, Vol. 2 (I— Z) pp. 1241—2444.
[210]Dharma, A.P., 1981. Indonesische geneeskrachtige planten [Indonesian medicinal plants]. De Driehoek, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 168 pp.
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[337]Hiramatsu, T., Imoto, M., Koyano, T. & Umezawa, K., 1993. Induction of normal phenotypes in ras-transformed cells by damnacanthal from Morinda citrifolia. Cancer Letter 73(2—3): 161—166.
[339]Hirazumi, A. & Furusawa, E., 1999. An immunomodulatory polysaccharide-rich substance from the fruit juice of Morinda citrifolia (noni) with antitumour activity. Phytotherapy Research 13(5): 380—387.
[347]Holdsworth, D.K., 1977. Medicinal plants of Papua New Guinea. Technical Paper No 175. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 123 pp.
[436]Johansson, J.T., 1994. The genus Morinda (Morindeae, Rubioideae, Rubiaceae) in New Caledonia: taxonomy and phylogeny. Opera Botanica No 122. 65 pp.
[542]Lemmens, R.H.M.J. & Wulijarni-Soetjipto, N. (Editors), 1991. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 3. Dye and tannin-producing plants. Pudoc, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 196 pp.
[671]Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
[760]Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
[814]Sang, S. et al., 2001. A new unusual iridoid with inhibition of activator protein-1 (AP-1) from the leaves of Morinda citrifolia L. Organic Letters 3(9): 1307—1309.
[817]Saralamp, P., Chuakul, W., Temsiririrkkul, R. & Clayton, T. (Editors), 1996. Medicinal plants in Thailand. Vol. I. Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. 219 pp.
[971]Vo Van Chi, 1997. Dictionary of medicinal plants of Vietnam. Hanoi Medical Publishing House, Hanoi, Vietnam. 1467 pp.
[977]Wan, M.Y. & Su, C., 2001. Cancer preventive effect of Morinda citrifolia (Noni). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 952: 161—168.
[1041]Younos, C. et al., 1990. Analgesic and behavioural effects of Morinda citrifolia. Planta Medica 56(5): 430—434.

Nguyen Tap & Nguyen Kim Bich

Tap, N. & Bich, N.K., 2003. Morinda citrifolia L.. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J. and Bunyapraphatsara, N. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea