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