Volume 62, Number 4, 485-487, DOI: 10.1007/s11418-008-0269-5

Identification of major aroma compounds in the leaf of Morinda citrifolia Linn.

Brett J. West and Bing-nan Zhou

View Related Documents

Abstract

Morinda citrifolia, commonly named noni, has been used as food and as a folk medicine throughout the tropics. The use of the leaves to make hot water beverages is increasing in popularity, especially in Japan and the United States. To better understand the effects of processing on the content of the major aroma compounds, volatile oils were collected from samples of frozen, dried and roasted leaves by steam distillation and then analyzed by GC-MS. Drying of the leaves reduces the quantity of aroma compounds by more than half. Palmitic acid and E-phytol were identified as the major components of the volatile oil. With the exception of E-phytol, all of the known volatile compounds identified in the leaf samples were done so for the first time.

Keywords   Morinda citrifolia  - Aroma compound - GC-MS -  E-phytol - Ionone

Fulltext Preview

Image of the first page of the fulltext document