History of the Noni Fruit

Traditional cultures have used the fruit, bark, leaves, and roots of noni fruit. They've used it as food, medication, and dye. The noni tree is native to Southeast Asia, but also grows in neighboring India and the Pacific Islands, and as far as New Zealand, Australia, and South America.

It's said that Polynesian Islanders first cultivated and domesticated the noni tree over 2,000 years back. They used the fruit and leaves as a topical medication, applying it to stalks, lesions, and other skin maladies.

Various different cultures have used the fruit as famine food, livestock feed, topical and internal medicine, and dye. People in China, Japan, and Hawaii have utilized medicinally to treat fever, in addition to issues with skin, eyes, gums, throat, stomach, digestion, and respiration. In Malaysia and the Philippines, the leaves are used to relieve nausea, cough, colic, and arthritis. In Indonesia, the fruit was consumed for asthma, lumbago, and dysentery.

The noni tree, and more especially its fruit, has been scientifically studied for decades. In 1972, a scientist called Maria Stewart reported that native Hawaiians solve lots of their medical problems by drinking noni fruit juice. A University of Hawaii professor called R.M. Heinicke latched on to the notion and started a 20-year study to the properties of noni fruit. In the 1990's, when he declared the presence of an unknown molecule responsible for noni's health worth, people started paying more attention to the fruit. A multi-level marketing company named Morinda started marketing products made from noni fruit. Since that time, demand for the fruit has improved dramatically.