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Commodities > Fruits, Nuts and Oils Coconuts [ Background Information ] [ Related Links ] The coconut (Cocos nucifera)tree is of the palm family (Arecaceae). It is one of the most important crops of the tropics. The slender, leaning, ringed trunk of the tree rises to a height of up to 25 m (80 feet) from a swollen base and is surmounted by a graceful crown of giant, featherlike leaves. Mature fruits, ovoid or ellipsoid in shape, 300–450 mm (12–18 inches) in length, and 150–200 mm in diameter, have a thick, fibrous husk surrounding the familiar single-seeded nut of commerce. A hard shell encloses the insignificant embryo with its abundant endosperm, composed of both meat and liquid. Coconut fruits float readily and have been dispersed widely by ocean currents and by humans throughout the tropics; they probably originated somewhere in Indo-Malaya. Marco Polo was among the first Europeans to describe coconuts. Coconut palms flourish best close to the sea on low-lying areas a few feet above high water where there is circulating groundwater and an ample rainfall. Most of the world's coconuts are produced on small native plantations. Propagation is by unhusked ripe nuts. These are laid on their sides close together in nursery beds and almost covered with soil. After 4 to 10 months the seedlings are transplanted to the field, where they are spaced at distances of 8–10 m. Palms usually start bearing after 5 to 6 years. Full bearing is obtained in 15 years. Fruits require a year to ripen; the annual yield per tree may reach 100, but 50 is considered good. Yields continue profitably until trees are about 50 years old. The harvested coconut yields copra, the dried extracted kernel, or meat, from which coconut oil, the world's ranking vegetable oil, is expressed. The Philippines and Indonesia lead in copra production, and throughout the South Pacific copra is one of the most important export products. The meat may also be grated and mixed with water to make coconut milk, used in cooking and as a substitute for cow's milk. Although the coconut finds its greatest commercial utilization in the industrial countries of the Western world, its usefulness in its native areas of culture is even greater. Indonesians claim that coconuts have as many uses as there are days in a year. Besides the edible kernels and the drink obtained from green nuts, the husk yields coir, a fibre highly resistant to salt water and used in the manufacture of ropes, mats, baskets, brushes, and brooms. Other useful products derived from the coconut palm include toddy, palm cabbage, and construction materials. Toddy, a beverage drunk fresh, fermented, or distilled, is produced from the sweetish sap yielded by the young flower stalks when wounded or cut; toddy is also a source of sugar and alcohol. Palm cabbage, the delicate young bud cut from the top of the tree, is, like the buds from other palms, eaten as a salad vegetable. Mature palm leaves are used in thatching and weaving baskets. The fibrous, decay-resistant tree trunk is incorporated into the construction of huts; it is also exported as a cabinet wood called porcupine wood. Coconut Bi-Products Coir Coir seed-hair fibre obtained from the outer shell, or husk, of the coconut, the fruit of Cocos nucifera, a tropical plant of the Arecaceae (Palmae) family. The coarse, stiff, reddish brown fibre is made up of smaller threads, each about 0.01 to 0.04 inch (0.03 to 0.1 centimetre) long and 12 to 24 microns (a micron is about 0.00004 inch) in diameter, composed of lignin, a woody plant substance, and cellulose. Sri Lanka is the centre of coir preparation, with hand processing, believed to produce a superior fibre, concentrated in the southwestern part of the island. The processed fibres, ranging from about 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 centimetres) in length, are light in weight, brittle, strong, and elastic, with a tendency to curl. They are resistant to abrasion and can be dyed. They are used to make brushes, are woven into matting, and are spun into yarns for marine cordage and fishnets. Copra Copra is the dried sections of the meat of the coconut, the kernel of the fruit of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). Copra is valued for the coconut oil extracted from it and for the resulting residue, coconut-oil cake, which is used mostly for livestock feed. Copra was introduced as a source of edible fat in northern Europe in the 1860s because of a shortage of dairy fats. Early in the 20th century it became known in the United States. Western Europe now imports about half a million tons annually, principally from the Philippines, but it is also an important export in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides), Mozambique, Malaysia, and the Pacific Islands. Naturally growing coconut palms are a significant source of copra, but commercial estates and plantations now predominate. The nuts are husked by bringing them down forcibly on a sharp point, by hand or mechanically. The shell is then cracked, usually into two halves, with a chopping knife, exposing the meat, which is about 50 percent water and 30 to 40 percent oil. About 30 nuts provide meat for 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of copra. Whole copra, also called ball or edible copra, is produced by the less common drying of the intact, whole nut kernel. Exposing the kernels to the air and sun was the earliest method of drying and is still extensively followed; it gives a good quality white copra. A more rapid process, adopted particularly where the humidity is high, is kiln drying, used generally in the Philippines. The kiln, essentially a fire pit overlaid with a grid, on which the copra is placed, is sheltered from rain by a roof. More uniform quality copra is produced by hot-air drying, first introduced in India and the Samoan islands. The copra is drawn through a heated tunnel, meeting a countercurrent of hot air. A fine, white copra of higher value than the sun-dried product is obtained. Well-dried copra contains 4 to 5 percent moisture and 63 to 70 percent oil. Coconut oil Coconut oil is obtained from the cleaned and crushed copra chiefly by pressing and solvent extraction. Coconut oil is a yellowish white solid that melts at 23° C (74° F). The crude product has a characteristic coconut odour. Its many industrial uses include manufacture of soaps, detergents, shampoos, synthetic rubber, and glycerin. After refining to remove free fatty acids and deodorizing, coconut oil is used in edible fats such as margarines and vegetable shortenings. An important food use of coconut oil arises from its high percentage of lauric acid, which is saturated and so resists oxidation and rancidity. Confectioners and bakers use refined coconut oil in products that may stand for a time after manufacture. |
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