The Potential Health Benefits of Noni Juice: A Review of Human Intervention Studies

Abstract

Noni juice is a globally popular health beverage that originates from the tropics. Traditional Tahitian healers believe the noni plant to be useful for a wide range of maladies, and noni juice consumers throughout the world have similar perceptions. Nevertheless, human clinical trials are necessary for an understanding of what the health benefits of noni juice truly are. A review of published human intervention studies suggest that noni juice may provide protection against tobacco smoke-induced DNA damage, blood lipid and homocysteine elevation, and systemic inflammation. Human interventions studies also suggest that noni juice may improve joint health, increase physical endurance, increase immune activity, inhibit glycation of proteins, aid weight management, help maintain bone health in women, help maintain normal blood pressure, and improve gum health. Further, these studies point to noni juice possessing notable antioxidant activity, more so than the other fruit juices that served as placebos. It is this antioxidant effect, and its interaction with the immune system and inflammation pathways, that may account for many of the observed health benefits of noni juice. However, the existing evidence does have some limitations in its application to noni juice products in general as all the peer-reviewed human interventions studies to-date have involved only one source of French Polynesian noni juice. Geographical factors and variations in processing methods are known to produce commercial noni juice products with divergent phytochemical and nutrient compositions. Therefore, other sources of noni products may have different toxicological and pharmacological profiles.

Indian Morinda species: A review

“…The noni fruit juice is rich in potassium, recommended as remedy to treat patients of kidney, liver or heart problems (Brown, ). The clinical studies of noni juice have proved its usefulness in treatment of depression, diabetes, osteoporosis, cervical spondylosis and cancer affected patients (West et al, ; Table ). The aqueous extract of M. lucida leaf possesses significant antimalarial effects (70 ml extract daily for 7 days) in plasmodium‐infected patients (Olaniyan & Babatunde, , ).…”

Effects of fermented noni juice on growth, antioxidant status, immune response, intestinal microbiota and resistance to Aeromonas hydrophila of juvenile yellow catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco fed high‐fat diet

“…Noni Morinda citrifolia belongs to the family Rubiaceae, subfamily Rubioideae, and it is widely grown throughout the Pacific region which is the most crucial source of traditional medicines in Pacific island societies (Wang et al, 2002). Fermented noni juice is also one of the traditional botanicals that have been used for centuries in every culture globally which is rich in bioactive ingredients, including flavonoids, flavonoid glycoside, saponin, polysaccharides, iridoids, anthraquinones and carotenoids (Torres et al, 2017;West et al, 2018). Additionally, fermented noni juice allegedly exhibits hypolipidaemic, antioxidant, immune-enhancing and hepatoprotective effects which is widely used in civil medicine in South-East Asia, Australia and Hawaii (Sousa et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2013).…”

Hiccups: You got to be kidney me!

“…Noni juice, from the fruit Morinda citrifolia , is believed to provide some protection against tobacco-induced DNA damage, blood lipid and homocysteine elevation, and systemic inflammation. 10 It is believed that the noni fruit has high contents of oxalic acid and vitamin C that combines with calcium to form oxalate. Patient was ultimately discharged home, with outpatient hemodialysis and an appointment with a dietician to limit oxalate intake.…”