Internet Niue

Niue’s 60-hectare organic noni farm is being doubled in size in response to interest shown by Chinese investors.

Noni fruit growing at the Vaiea noni farm

In mid-2011 a group of Chinese businesspeople from New Zealand made arrangements to take large quantities of noni juice from Niue, the Cook Islands and Samoa.

The Vaiea farm, a joint venture between the Reef Group and the Government of Niue, was officially opened in October 2004. Its processing plant – described by the business owners as the most technologically advanced in the Southern Pacific – is capable of producing 100,000 litres of juice a month. Fruit from the farm is supplement by fruit gathered from Niue’s native forests.

Noni (Morinda citrifolia) is an evergreen bush grown mainly in the islands of the South Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia. Its white fragrant flowers bloom out of cluster-like pods, which bear the noni fruit. The fruit, which resembles a small bread fruit, is fleshy and gel-like when ripe.

The juice is extracted when the fruit is almost ripe. It taste and smell are not pleasant but its health promoting properties have been recognised as a natural remedy in Polynesia for thousands of years. Its main attribute is its proven ability to boost the body’s immune system.

The main active ingredient in noni is proxeronine, which is converted by the body in to xeronine. Xeronine is a critical biochemical compound involved in a wide range of normal biochemical reactions of the human body.

The manager of the farm, Mike Doherty, says it’ll take about four years for the trees on the additional 60 ha to reach full production. Developing the farm will be a major exercise involving the use of bulldozers, because Niue’s soil is thin and is interspersed with coral outcrops.

For more information about noni juice and how to buy it, click here.

Sources:  Radio NZ International and Pure Pacifika