In response to this demand, some countries such as Costa Rica and Cambodia, have increased the fields being
cultivated in noni. In these countries, the fruit is often commercialized fresh or as juice in both formal and
informal markets, but it is also found as pasteurized juice, either pure or mixed with other juices (usually grape or
blackberry). Commercial interest in noni has tremendously increased in recent years, as provided by the number of
patents registered. In the United States alone, 19 patents have been registered by the US Patent and Trademark
Office since 1976 (USPTO, 2005). Noni juice has been recently accepted in the European Union as a novel food
(European Commission, Scientific Committee for Food, 2002). Nevertheless, despite the real market opportunities,
there has been little scientific research to review the actual
nutritional and functional properties of noni products.
Furthermore, the phytochemical compounds responsible
for their alleged properties have not yet been reviewed. As
a result, optimization of agricultural/post-harvest practices
or processing technologies has been neglected. This paper
attempts to report on the state of progress on noni fruit
production and its characterization, and the main nutritional
and functional properties attributed to noni that
have been scientifically proven.
2. Plant