By
Dr. Ralph Heinicke, Ph.D
My search for the active ingredient
in Noni began with a series of studies on the pineapple plant.
Since about 1972 I had been attempting to identify the unknown
ingredient in "bromelain", which gives crude preparations
of this enzyme their potent pharmacological properties. (Sometimes!)
After many discouraging years
of research I eventually identified this ingredient as a new
alkaloid to which I gave the name "xeronine".
Noticing that the clinical claims
of efficacy for bromelain and Noni were practically identical,
I tried the same techniques on Noni fruit, a technique which
I had developed for isolating xeronine from the pineapple plant.
The technique worked! Not only
was I able to isolate the same compound from Noni fruit, but
the yields were excellent. Today Noni is one of the best raw
materials to use for the isolation of xeronine.
Xeronine is a relatively small
alkaloid that is physiologically active in the picogram range.
(Editorial note: a picogram is one trillionth of a gram.) It
occurs in practically all healthy cells of plants, animals and
microorganisms.
However, the amount of free alkaloid
is minute, and is well below the limits of normal chemical analytical
techniques.
Even though Noni fruits have
a negligible amount of free xeronine, they contain appreciable
amounts of the precursor of xeronine. This precursor, which I
have named "proxeronine", is a strange molecule.
The molecular weight is relatively
large, namely about 16,000. In contrast to most plant colloids,
this colloid contains neither sugars, nor amino acids, nor nucleic
acids.
Thus most biochemists have overlooked
this relatively abundant molecule which occurs in most tissues.
Noni fruits also contain the
inactive form of the enzyme that releases xeronine from proxeronine.
Unless this pro-enzyme becomes properly activated, however, Noni
juice will cause few pharmacological reactions.
Fortunately, if Noni juice is
taken on an empty stomach, the critical pro-enzyme escapes digestion
in the stomach and enters the intestines.
Here the chances are high that
it may become activated.
Many years of research are still
required to demonstrate convincingly how xeronine functions at
the molecular level in a cell. In the meantime I can suggest
certain hypotheses which can act as a guide in planning experiments.
I am basing these hypotheses
both on clinical results with bromelain pills as well as on a
limited number of laboratory and animal experiments carried out
with pure xeronine.
I am proposing that the primary
function of xeronine is to regulate the rigidity and shape of
specific proteins.
Since these proteins have different
functions, we have the usual clinical situation where administering
one simple drug causes an unbelievably wide range of physiological
responses.
I believe that each tissue has
cells which contain proteins, which in turn have receptor sites
for the absorption of xeronine. Certain of these proteins are
the inert forms of enzymes which require absorbed xeronine to
become active.
Other proteins become potential
receptor sites for hormones after they react with xeronine.
Thus the action of ginseng, bromelain
and Noni in making a person feel well is probably caused by xeronine
converting certain brain receptor proteins into active sites
for the absorption of the endorphin, the well being hormones.
Other proteins form pores through
membranes in the intestines, the blood vessels, and other body
organs. Absorbing xeronine on these proteins changes the shape
of the pores and thus affects the passage of molecules through
the membranes.
Thus the action of bromelain,
Noni, and ginseng in improving digestion may be ascribable to
this action. These are just a few of the many exciting actions
of this newly discovered alkaloid. Since Noni is a potential
source of this alkaloid, Noni juice can be a valuable herbal
remedy.
There are some practical problems,
however, in using Noni juice as a health supplement.
The flavor of juice made from
ripe Noni is terrible. None of my colleagues would touch the
untreated juice. Even after I had removed most of the disagreeable
flavor (several organic acids) from the juice, my colleagues
still found it unfit to drink. For a price, the odoriferous chemicals
can be removed from the Hawaiian variety.
However, other varieties grown
in other Pacific Islands are milder in flavor and better source
of Noni.
Another critical problem in using
Noni juice as a health supplement is timing. If the juice is
drunk on a full stomach, it will have very little beneficial
action.
The pepsin and acid in the stomach
will destroy the enzyme that liberates xeronine. For a seriously
sick person, drinking the juice on an empty stomach rarely poses
a problem because the patient is too sick to want to eat anything.
However, for the average person
who wants to drink Noni juice as a health tonic, timing is critical.
I would recommend drinking 100 ml of Noni juice a half-hour before
breakfast.
At this time the juice will pass
rapidly through the stomach and into the intestines, where it
may be converted into the active enzyme. At any other time of
the day, especially at meal times, the primary effects of drinking
Noni juice will be psychological and caloric.
Because of the strong flavor,
the psychological effect might not necessarily be positive! To
obtain the maximum effect of the active ingredient in Noni, I
would recommend also that Noni juice not be drunk with coffee,
tobacco or alcohol.
At times the combination of these
materials and Noni can give some unexpected side effects. At
other times the combination merely lowers the potentially beneficial
effect of xeronine.
The old islander people were
truly fortunate to have herbal medical doctors who recognized
a valuable natural product and who knew how to administer this
supplement or juice with the proper psychological persuasion.
Scientist have studied the Morinda
citrifolia plant for many years hoping to unlock the secrets
of its tremendous impact on the body. In study after study, Morinda
citrifolia has been found to be exactly what the traditional
Polynesian have always known -- a perfect natural gift worthy
of our greatest attention.
I have devoted
much of my life to the study of this unique substance that I
have named proxeronine. I am convinced of the tremendous
benefits achieved by furnishing the body with a proper supply
of this material.
The fact that
Morinda has finally developed a way to bring noni juice to the
market delights me. I am an enthusiastic consumer of TAHITIAN
NONI juice and support the mission of Morinda 100%.---Dr. Ralph
Heinicke, Ph.D.
