Coconut

Cocos nucifera, the coconut palm, is a monocot perennial member of the Arecaceae (palm family), cultivated in tropical areas worldwide for its fruit and fiber. It has been extolled in songs, novels, and films, such as the Marx Brothers movie, Cocoanuts and The Coconut song (see YouTube clip and YouTube song). It is particularly important in Pacific islands, where it can be a primary source of food and a major cash crop. The species has been cultivated since prehistoric times and is no longer found in the wild. Its progenitors are thought to have originated in the western Pacific region known as Malesia (the floristic region that includes the Malay Peninsula and archipelago, New Guinea, and the Bismarck Archipelago) and the southwest Pacific. It is now cultivated and sometimes naturalized across tropical and subtropical areas worldwide, where it often grows along coastal areas. Coconut palms are medium-sized, solitary herbaceous plants. Although treelike in form, their trunks are composed not of wood, but of fibrous, stout, overlapping stems, and may grow to 25 m tall (80 feet), topped by a crown of pinnately compound leaves up to 4 meters (15 feet) long. The coconut is known for its great versatility as seen in the many domestic, commercial, and industrial uses of its different parts. Coconuts are part of the daily diet of many people. Its endosperm is known as the edible "flesh" of the coconut; when dried it is called copra. The oil and milk derived from it are commonly used in cooking and frying; coconut oil is also widely used in soaps and cosmetics. The clear liquid coconut water within is a refreshing beverage and can be processed to create alcohol or blended with gums and whiteners to make a popular milk substitute. The husks and leaves can be used as material to make a variety of products for furnishing and decorating. It also has cultural and religious significance in many societies that use it. As of 2009, coconut was grown commercially in 80 countries, with total production of 61 million tons; leading producers were the Philippines, Indonesia, and India. Coconuts have been used in traditional medicine around the world to treat numerous ailments, ranging from sore throat, colds, and earaches to tuberculosis, tumors, and ulcers. Recent medical studies have found that coconut can have antibacterial, antifungal, antihelmintic, and antiviral properties, among other health benefits. Coconut oil was once avoided because it is composed of saturated fats, which were thought to raise cholesterol. However, recent research suggests that because it has medium- rather than long-chain fatty acids, coconut oil does not raise cholesterol, but may actually protect against heart disease. Coconut has now become popular as a health food, with numerous products and web sites extolling its benefits. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not technically a nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word. The term is derived from 16th century Portuguese and Spanish “cocos,” meaning "grinning face," from the three small holes on the coconut shell that resemble human facial features. (Coconut Research Center 2004, Haden 2009, Hahn 1997, Kew 2011, Pearsall 1999, Wikipedia 2011)

Cocos nucifera is commonly known as a coconut palm and literally has hundreds of uses but is most well known for the products of its fruit, such as coconut meat, coconut water, coconut milk, and coconut oil. While the coconut palm is well known for many edible products it is also an important source of traditional medicine, crafting material and fuel (Morrison et al. 1994). Almost all edible products of the coconut come from the fruit, or “nut” portion of the plant. The hard endosperm of the seed is edible when fresh but can also be dried and shredded to make desiccated coconut, a common topping for baked goods and sweets in the Europe and North America which is especially popular as a topping on bread, chocolate, cake and ice cream or frozen yogurt (Haynes and McLaughlin 2000). The liquid endosperm of the immature fruit, often called "coconut water" is potable and readily consumable when fresh (Bennett 2007). It has nearly the same composition as many popular sports drinks that are marketed as “hydration aids” and has experience a recent explosion of commercial popularity in North America though it has been a common beverage in the tropics and subtropics for generations (Haynes and McLaughlin 2000). In the Philippines, it is the key ingredient for making the gelatinous dessert nata de coco and is also used to feed infants, as it is in many other countries. Coconut water is also used for medicinal purposes (Grimwood 1975). Modern medicine has found that coconut water can be a good substitute for intravenous infusions, and it has been used to replace blood plasma in emergency surgery (Bennett 2007; Grimwood 1975). In Nigerian folk medicine, the coconut fruit products are prescribed as “anti-poison” treatments that are meant to neutralize toxic and venomous substances (Aiyeloja and Bello 2006). Whereas in traditional South Asian medicine, coconut water is sometimes mixed with “coconut milk,” to treat intestinal worms and other stomach problems. It is said to be particularly useful for dealing with cholera because the salines and albumins in it restrict vomiting and has further been reported to reduce rashes from small pox, chicken pox and measles (Grimwood 1975). More edible products can be made by tapping the inflorescence of the plant for sap, which is called “tody” (Bennett 2007). Tody can then be boiled to produce coconut sugar which is known as “jaggery (Haynes and McLaughlin 2000).” If the tody is instead fermented, it can become the alcoholic beverage arrack, which in turn can become coconut vinegar if it is fermented for even longer (Haynes and McLaughlin 2000; Grimwood 1975). Additionally, coconut heart of palm can be harvested from any plant older than three years of age and used to make salads (Haynes and McLaughlin 2000). Coconut milk and coconut cream are also products of the fruit however the terms “coconut milk” and “coconut cream” are not always distinct and can be used in different parts of the world to refer to the same product (Haynes and McLaughlin 2000). Coconut milk/cream is an emulsion of coconut oil and water achieved by shredding and squeezing the fresh coconut flesh from inside the nut and then adding coconut oil; alternately, a simpler version can be produced by grating the coconut with hot water (Grimwood 1975; Bennett 2007). These products, along with coconut oil, have no cholesterol and are readily digestible (Haynes and McLaughlin 2000). The coconut palm is also an important source of vegetable oil and fixed oil in the Americas among the three most important oil yielding palms (Haynes and McLaughlin 2000). Coconut fruit provides many edible products to humans but is also often used as food for domestic animals in tropical countries, especially pigs, chickens and dogs, but is also used in industrial livestock and poultry operations as a component of animal feed (Morrison et al. 1994). The shell of the fruit is also highly useful in and yields its own products. In addition to being used as cups, bowls, spoons, containers and other cooking equipment, the excess shells from coconut plantations are often used to build roads and also for lining wells during drilling (Morrison et al. 1994; Grimwood 1975). It is also the preferred portion of the plant to use for fuel (though all portions may be used for fuel) because it is an excellent source of coconut charcoal (Morrison et al. 1994). Coconut charcoal is produced industrially in the Caribbean, South Asia and the Pacific Islands and is a big source of fuel in many islands of the Pacific (Grimwood 1975; Morrison et al. 1994). Furthermore, ash from coconut shells are said to be good substitutes for potassium fertilizer and sample measurements from Malaysia show that they contain the equivalent of 52.2% potassium in ash form (Grimwood 1975). In terms of yielding construction material, the husk fiber, known as coir is derived from the mesocarp fibers that surround the seed and is used to manufacture items like rope and twine, which are then used to lash together structures or for fishing nets and string fishing lines (Morrison et al. 1994). Coir can also be used as stuffing or caulking, or for weaving mats, skirts, hats and paint brushes (Bennett 2007, Morrison et al. 1994). The palm leaf can also be woven or used for split roof thatch but may also be woven to produce other products including baskets, purses, bags and hats (Bennett 2007).