Main non-polar chemical constituent from Morinda citrifolia fruits.

Separation, isolation and purification of compounds from Morinda citrifolia fruits were done using solvent-solvent partitioning and chromatography techniques. The dichloromethane (DCM) soluble partition of the methanol (MeOH) extract had undergone a purification technique. One main non-polar constituent was successfully isolated and identified using modern spectroscopy method such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and mass spectroscopy. This compound is a type of coumarin known as scopoletin and it can be a standard compound for non-polar constituent analysis of Morinda citrifolia fruits especially for products. *Food Technology Research Centre, MARDI Headquarters, Serdang, P.O. Box 12301, 50774 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia **Technical Services Centre, MARDI Headquarters, Serdang, P.O. Box 12301, 50774 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Authors’ full names: Mohd Nazrul Hisham Daud, Mohd Lip Jabit, Arif Zaidi Jusoh and Normah Ahamad E-mail: nazrul@mardi.gov.my ©Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute 2010 Introduction Morinda citrifolia L. (Rubiaceae), commonly called Noni or Indian mulberry, is a small evergreen tree or shrub of Polynesian origin (McClatchey 2002). Morinda citrifolia bears a lumpy, green to yellowish-white fruit, normally 5–10 cm long, with a surface covered in polygonal-shaped sections (Nelson 2001; McClatchey 2002). Morinda citrifolia has a long history of use as medicinal plant in part of Southeast Asia, Polynesia and Australia and is considered to be the second most important medicinal plant in the Hawaiian Island (Tabrah and Eveleth 1966; McClatchey 2002). The fruits have been used medicinally to treat a wide range of ailments. These include, but not limited to, diabetes, diarrhoea, hypertension, malaria, pain and infections (Morton 1992; McClatchey 2002). The fruits are also eaten as a food, but primarily only in times of famine (Morton 1992). Products from M. citrifolia (fruits) has become widespread and commercially available in health food stores and chain grocery stores specializing in natural food. Usually products from M. citrifolia fruits are sold in the form of tablet, tea and juice. In the United States, the growth in popularity may in part be attributed to claim of Noni being a ‘cure-all’ or aid in relieving symptoms for a host of chronic conditions such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes and hypertension (McClatchey 2002). Past studies indicated that the major chemical constituents of Morinda being identified were anthraquinones (Perkin 1908), lipid glycosides (Wang et al. 1999) and flavonol glycosides, iridoid glucosides and triterpenoids (Sang et al. 2001, 2002). Purification procedure of scopoletin from M. citrifolia was not reported in