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Noni
or
Mengkudu
Morinda citrifolia
Family Rubiaceae
updated
Jan 13
Where seen? This strange plant is sometimes seen especially
in areas where kampongs (villages) used to be. With shiny leaves and
bizarre flowers and odd smelly fruits, it has an amazing variety of
traditional uses.
According to Giesen, it is tolerant of a wide range of habitats from
wet to dry, poor to rich soils and can be found up to an altitude
of 300m. In the wild, it is commonly found along the coast, including
rocky shores and the back mangroves. It was possibly originally native
to South Asia and northern Australia but is now found throughout the
tropics and is particularly common in the Pacific Islands. According
to Corners, it was possibly wild on rocky shores and was common in
all villages in Malaya, frequently on the sea coasts.
Features: May grow into a small
tree 3-10m tall, but those on our shores usually much shorter and
often just shrubs. Bark pale greyish-brown, shallowly fissured.
Leaves eye-shaped large (10-40cm long) dark green, glossy, arranged
opposite one another.
Flowers small (1cm long) white, tubular emerging from an egg-shaped
structure.
Fruits egg-shaped (8-10cm), described by Burkill as "greyish
transparent white, in appearance anything but appetizing, in flavour
as of soap and sugar mixed, with a smell like decaying cheese".
The ripe fruit rots readily and the smell has been described as a
"terrible stench" that resembles vomit. The fruit contains
many seeds.
Role in the habitat: According
to Giesen, it is often infested by Weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina)
which build their nests out of the large leaves of the plant.
Human uses: According to Burkill, the Morinda species
are cultivated for the dyes produced by the root bark: shades of red,
purple and chocolate. In Java, M. citrifolia was cultivated
for this purpose (to produce yellow to deep orange) but not in the
Malay peninsula. Medicinally, the fruit was used for a wide range
of ailments including diabetes and coughs. Heated leaves may be applied
to the chest for coughs. According to Wee, in Chinese medicine and
in Japan it was used to contain fever and as a tonic. According to
Giesen, it produces a timber with a fine and even texture. The fruits
may be eaten in rojak in Indonesia, and as a staple in some Pacific
Islands where they are eaten raw or cooked. The fruits may also be
fed to pigs. Young leaves may be eaten as a vegetable and contain
high levels of protein. Seeds may also be roasted and eaten.
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Pulau Ubin,
Jan 09
Sungei
Buloh Wetland Reserve, Mar 09
Ripening
fruit.
Pulau Ubin, Jan 09
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Noni
on Singapore shores
Links
- Morinda
citrifolia on Total Vascular Flora of Singapore Online:
photos and fact sheet.
- Morinda
citrifolia on the NParks Flora and Fauna website: photos
and fact sheet.
- Morinda
citrifolia (Gentianales: Rubiaceae) Noni by Chen Junhao,
2012 on taxo4254.
- Giesen,
Wim and Stephan Wulffraat, Max Zieren and Liesbeth Scholten. 2006.
Mangrove
Guidebook for Southeast Asia (PDF online downloadable).
RAP publication 2006/07 Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok.
References
- Hsuan Keng,
S.C. Chin and H. T. W. Tan. 1990, The
Concise Flora of Singapore: Gymnosperms and Dicotyledons.
Singapore University Press. 222 pp.
- Wee Yeow
Chin. 1992. A
Guide to Medicinal Plants. The Singapore Science Centre.
160pp
- Corners,
E. J. H., 1997. Wayside
Trees of Malaya: in two volumes.
Fourth edition, Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. Volume 1:
1-476 pp, plates 1-38; volume 2: 477-861 pp., plates 139-236.
- Burkill,
I. H., 1993. A
Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula.
3rd printing. Publication Unit, Ministry of Agriculture, Malaysia,
Kuala Lumpur. Volume 1: 1-1240; volume 2: 1241-2444.
- Wee Yeow
Chin. 1992. A
Guide to Medicinal Plants. The Singapore Science Centre.
160pp.
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