KEYWORDS:

ANALGESIC: a substance that reduces pain without causing loss of consciousness

 

NONI JUICE: made from the noni plant of Tahiti, which is believed to have beneficial health properties. It has gained popularity in the Caribbean region.

 

INTERESTING FACT:

Denis Noel is a great lover of horses and is the owner and trainer of successful race horses that have competed in Guyana, Trinidad, and Barbados.

Denis Noel (Date of Birth: 13th Dec 1937)

Caribbean Icons in STI Vol 2

For centuries, Caribbean people have used traditional herbal remedies. Denis Noel has combined the wisdom of the past with the science of modern medicine.

Denis Noel was born on 13th December, 1937 at Carlton, St. Andrew’s, Grenada. He represented Grenada in football for several years. On his father’s property, Balthazar Estate, he grew to love nature, and this led him to pursue a Diploma in General Agriculture at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA) in Trinidad. He graduated in 1960, after which he joined the Grenadian Ministry of Agriculture as a land use officer.

He served as Chief Technical Officer between 1971 and 1982, after which he became Grenada’s Deputy Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS). In 1984, he returned to the Ministry for three years before entering politics. He was appointed to the Senate and served as Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office, Junior Minister of Agriculture, and also Junior Minister of Communication and Works between 1990 and 1995.

After leaving politics in 1995, Noel diversified the operations of the Balthazar Estate. He packaged and marketed herbal tea made from lemon grass. He was the first Grenadian to cultivate the noni plant and market noni juice. In 2000, he released Nut-Med – a pain-relieving spray which combined nutmeg, a traditional remedy, with conventional analgesics. Nut-Med became internationally famous and was registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States. His company also provides remedies for kidney stones, gallstones and cholesterol-reduction using Caribbean plants. Flowers from his estate helped Grenada to earn six Gold Medal awards at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in England over a 10-year period. The estate is currently Grenada’s largest producer of cut flowers.

In 2005, Denis Noel was inducted into the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contribution to agriculture and manufacturing.

Denis Noel advises young people that, “Every person has intrinsic gifts and ideas which, when pursued, can lead to innovation and can change lives forever.”

GALLERY