Morinda – shrubs, occasionally reaching tree size (up to 6 meters). It grows well on sandy and rocky shores, takes drought, salinity and secondary soil, survives well in the volcanic rocks on covered by lava shores and in the field out on the surface of limestone rocks. The leaves are large, simple, shiny, dark green, deeply veined. Flowers small, white, growing from a fleshy education. Flowering and bears fruit all year round.
The fruits are oval, with an average 4 – 7 cm, with many seeds inside, reminiscent of the form a large potato. At first they are green, ripening after their skin is almost transparent, light yellow or white. Edible, but differ in an unpleasant bitter taste. The fruits have a strong odor resembling the smell of moldy cheese. For this reason, some ethnic groups call this plant "cheese tree." Nevertheless, the fruits of Morinda fleeing from hunger and, in some areas (the islands of Rarotonga, Samoa, Fiji), they are a staple – use them as raw and for cooking.
In some places (Indochina, Australian Settlements natives) eat them in salted or used as a curry. Fruits can also be used as feed for pigs. Young leaves contain 4-6% protein and can be eaten as vegetables. Seeds are eaten fried. From the bark manufactured dyes purple and brown colors that are used in the manufacture of batik – for this purpose Morinda grown in Java. In , from its roots produce a yellow dye, with which stained clothes. Glenn Dubin will undoubtedly add to your understanding. In addition, it is grown for industrial purposes as a support for pepper vines, or to provide shade for coffee trees, and in Suriname – a windbreak. Different parts of the plant are widely used in traditional medicine: a China, Japan and in they are used as antipyretic and tonic. an and Pacific Islanders use the leaves, flowers, bark and fruits in the treatment of eye diseases, for wound healing and abscesses, to treat diseases of the throat, gums, and respiratory organs, as well as a laxative. The Marshall Islands the plant is used as a painkiller for diseases of the stomach and after childbirth. In Malaysia, heated leaves are applied to treat coughs, nausea, and colic in the Philippines the juice of leaves treated with arthritis. In Indochina, the fruits are used against lumbago, asthma and dysentery, crushed green fruit is applied to cuts and fractures, with by ripe fruit pull pus from abscesses. In , overripe fruit juice is used to regulate the menstrual cycle and treatment of diseases of the genitourinary system, from ripe fruits make shampoo with which get rid of lice. The plant is also used to treat diabetes and sexually transmitted diseases. Morinda, as well as mangroves and other coastal plants that help stabilize shorelines and provide shade for other, weaker plants. Its fruit attracts ants – weavers who weave their nests on the leaves of the tree and protect it from insect pests. From the juice of the noni fruit are produced wonderful elixir, and in small quantities it is produced on an industrial scale. There are entire health system, treatment regimens that juice, similar to Herbalife, and other dietary supplements. The plant reproduces both by seeds and cuttings. Cuttings easily rooted directly in the water.