Evidências científicas da aplicação terapêutica de Morinda citrifolia: uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Morinda citrifolia L. is a medicinal plant native to Southeast Asia. Also known as "noni", it has been used in folk medicine for over 2000 years. Among the most frequent medicinal uses, the treatment of diabetes, obesity, cancer and inflammation stand out. However, the clear scientific understanding of these therapeutic applications remains unclear. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the most recent studies that report the association of scientific evidence for the therapeutic application of Noni, thus making it possible to generate indicators for possible preclinical and clinical studies. Methods: We performed a systematic review according to the protocol for systematic reviews proposed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Metanalysis (PRISMA), with analysis of related articles in the PubMed, Web of Science and Embase databases, in the period of the last five years (2016/2021). The descriptors “Morinda” and “Therapeutics” and their synonyms registered in MeSH were used, together, and no language restrictions were imposed. Articles that reported any therapeutic activity of the plant were included in the study. To reduce the risk of bias, a methodological quality assessment tool was used. Results: Database searches retrieved 452 articles. After removing the duplicate articles and analyzing the eligibility criteria, 90 articles that were in accordance with the fulfillment of the objective and established methodological criteria were selected. The vast majority of studies included were “in vitro” and “in vivo” experiments; fruits were the most used parts of the plant; and the most common therapeutic activities were anticancer, metabolic, gastrointestinal, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbiological disorders. Conclusions: The selected studies signaled beneficial effects of M. citrifolia on several diseases, reporting scientific evidence for the therapeutic application of noni, providing good indicators for conducting preclinical and clinical studies, with due caution.