The juice is from the Morinda plant, a green plant native to Asia, Australia and Polynesia. Morinda citrifolia is listed in the Food and Drug Administration's unofficial Poisonous Plant Database. Information is obtained from current literature and lists those plants that may have harmful effects in man or animals. Neither safety nor effectiveness has been shown. Today, the product can be found as a juice, dried fruit or powder.
People use it to treat heart problems, for joint pain, headache, stomach and liver problems.
Modern writings claim that it helps the immune system fight cancer and parasites. Parts of the Morinda plant show promise against parasites and as a calming agent. Studies in mice with a certain type of lung cancer have lived longer, mostly as a result of Morinda acting on the immune system. No studies of its effect on cancer or HIV have been performed on humans. This Fact Sheet is available in portable document format .