Please cite this article as: Motshakeri, M., Ghazali, H.M., Nutritional, phytochemical and commercial quality of Noni fruit: a multi-beneficial gift from natureABSTRACT Morinda citrifolia L., "Noni", has been used as a food and traditional medicine in Polynesian culture. Noni is now widely available in the global market, mainly as juices and dietary supplements. Here, we review recent research on Noni and its products. We summarize research on the beneficial therapeutic and nutritional properties of Noni, as well as that on the effects of post-harvest storage and processing methods on the properties of Noni products. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive data on the technical and nutritional advances related to Noni fruit, including those described in recent patents.

The consumption of either ethanolic or water extracts of S. polycystum dose dependently reduced dyslipidaemia in type 2 diabetic rats. S. polycystum is a potential insulin sensitiser, for a comestible complementary therapy in the management of type 2 diabetes which can help reduce atherogenic risk.

The edible seaweed Sargassum polycystum (SP) is traditionally used against several human diseases. This investigation evaluated the effects of two dietary doses of SP ethanolic and aqueous extracts on the pancreatic, hepatic, and renal morphology of type 2 diabetic rats (T2DM). T2DM was induced by feeding rats on high calorie diet followed by a low dose streptozotocin. Changes in the diabetic rat organs in SP treated groups with different doses of extracts were compared with normal rats, diabetic control rats, and metformin treated rats. After 22 days of treatment, the pathological lesions of the livers and kidneys in the diabetic rats were quantitatively and qualitatively alleviated (P < 0.05) by both the SP extracts at 150 mg/kg body weight and by metformin. All the treated diabetic groups revealed marked improvement in the histopathology of the pancreas compared with the control diabetic group. Oral administration of 300 mg/kg body weight of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of SP and metformin revealed pancreas protective or restorative effects. The seaweed extracts at 150 mg/kg body weight reduced the liver and kidney damages in the diabetic rats and may exert tissue repair or restoration of the pancreatic islets in experimentally induced diabetes to produce the beneficial homeostatic effects.

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