Safety of ‘leaves from Morinda citrifolia L.’ ‐ Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies

After cutting, the leaves of M. citrifolia are subjected to drying and roasting steps. The steps are standard procedures commonly applied in food production and do not give rise to concern. Compositional data on various batches of dried and roasted M. citrifolia leaves from French Polynesia have been provided. The information presented does not indicate detrimental nutritional effects to be expected from the consumption of tea infusions made from dried and roasted M. citrifolia leaves. Under the applied analytical conditions none of the anthraquinones rubiadin, alizarin and lucidin could be detected in dried and roasted M. citrifolia leaves (detection limits 0.25, 0.025 and 0.4 mg/kg) and in infusions (detection limits 1.04, 0.1 and 1.67 μg/l), respectively. 5,15-Dimethylmorindol, an anthraquinone previously isolated from the fruits of M. citrifolia, was shown to be present in dried and roasted M. citrifolia leaves at concentrations ranging from 11.3 to 42.6 mg/kg. In infusions from dried and roasted M. citrifolia leaves contents of 5,15-dimethylmorindol ranging between 5.8 and 20.9 μg/l were determined. On the basis of an average 5,15-dimethylmorindol content of 26.5 ± 11.75 mg/kg in dried and roasted leaves and an average extraction efficiency of 34 %, a total of approximately 9 ± 4 μg 5,15-dimethylmorindol is expected to be present per cup of tea (100 ml). Roasting of M. citrifolia leaves causes 80 and 77 % decreases of the concentrations of the glycosides rutin and kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoysyl-(1-6)-ß-D-glucopyranoside, respectively, and 2and 2.9-fold increases of the corresponding aglycones, quercetin and