Noni

January 23, 2014

Noni is an English name for the fruit of Morinda citrifolia. This coffee relative originated in Australasia, but has been planted throughout the tropics.

Noni develops as a multiple fruit that forms as the tight cluster of flowers is pollinated. Blooming and fruit production knows no season for M. citrifolia. When newly formed the fruit is green but becomes yellow and subsequently white as it ripens. Upon ripening, noni is a extremely pungent fruit earning the alternate name “cheese fruit.”

Many seeds fill the interior of this fruit; they are edible when roasted.

This fruit in particular came from a tree planted on grounds of campsite Don Pedro in Parque Tayrona on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.