By Tara Godvin
Associated Press

HONOLULU — For centuries, residents of the South Pacific have
used the noni plant to treat a host of ills, from breathing problems
to aches and pains.
Lucy Pemoni, Associated PressA green noni fruit hangs from a tree
near the Koolau Mountains. Farmers and developers are using the
plant to expand Hawaiian agriculture. Now some farmers and
business developers are looking to this traditional healing plant to
expand Hawaii's agricultural market.
But what sounds like an obscure niche market is actually big
business.
In eight years, Utah-based Tahitian Noni International has
expanded to sell noni products across the globe, reporting $500
million in sales last year alone.
"We've also spawned an industry. There are probably 250
companies around the world that make noni products," said Andre
Peterson, spokesman for the company that uses noni plants grown in
French Polynesia.
Just about every part of the noni plant has some claimed
medicinal properties. But the most popular form is the distinctive-
tasting — some even say "nasty" — juice of the noni plant's odd-
looking, whitish fruit.
The noni industry in Hawaii is just beginning to take off,
said Spencer Kamauoha, vice president of the Kamauoha Foundation,
which promotes economic development on Oahu.
In 2003, the foundation was awarded a $1.5 million grant from
the Administration for Native Americans to develop an 80-acre noni
farm in Waialua and a fruit processing plant at Wahiawa. Those funds
just began to flow this fall.
And last month, the foundation was notified that it would be
getting another $84,000 from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and
$75,000 from Honolulu's community investment fund, Kamauoha said.
The project got another boost after supporters discovered 22
small farmers on the Big Island who were growing the plants and
needed a processor.
Kamauoha Farms now receives 16,000 pounds of the fruit from
Hilo each week and just opened a collection warehouse in Kona for
local farmers.
Lucy Pemoni, Associated PressNoni products are displayed for sale at
Kualoa Ranch in Honolulu. For centuries, residents of the South
Pacific have used the healing plant to treat a host of ills, from
joint to breathing problems or just plain pain. While it ships
most of its product to a distributor on the mainland, the company
plans next month to put its own brand of noni fruit juice on
shelves, labeling it North Shore Noni.
"So what I think needs to be developed, too, is the Hawaii
brand and the Hawaii source as a source of noni in its own right,"
Kamauoha said.
That idea has caught the attention of House Speaker Calvin Say
and Rep. Helene Hale, who co-sponsored a resolution in support of
the local noni industry.
"The problem is that we need some help with this industry to
really show people what it really can do," Hale told the House
Agriculture Committee during a recent hearing on the resolution.
Hale also offered her own testimonial. After a recent fall,
she found herself with a black eye. A friend suggested her eye could
be cured with a warmed noni leaf.
The eye cleared up in a day, Hale said.
While most of the support for the noni plant's medicinal value
is similarly anecdotal, there are some scientific studies under way.
The University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center has been
conducting human trials using capsules of powdered noni extract
since 2001.
While there have been no adverse effects on patients, there
also hasn't been anything positive attributable to the plant, said
Dr. Brian Issell, director of clinical trials at the center.
Originally funded by the National Institutes of Health, the
center is looking for local funding to continue the work.
"I think we need some answers on it," Issell said. "I would
hate to not get some answers about noni."