ABOUT COCONUT

The Coconut Tree (Cocos Nucifera L.) is called "The Tree of Life" because of the endless list of products and by-products derived from its various parts. Food, shelter, fuel - name it, the coconut has it.

The coconut industry is considered a major dollar earner that provides livelihood to one-third of the country's population.

Coconut Meat

From coco meat can be obtained coco flour, desiccated coconut, coconut milk, coconut chips, candies, bukayo or local sweetened shredded coconut meat, latik copra and animal feeds.

Coco chips, which are curved and wrinkled coconut meat, is crisply toasted and salted. It is very popular in Hawaii.

Coconut flour can be used as a wheat extender in baking certain products without affecting their appearance or acceptability.

The coconut milk is a good protein source. Whole coco milk contains about 22% oil, which accounts for its laxative property.

Coconut Oil

Copra is dried coconut meat that has a high oil content, as much as 64%. Coconut oil is the most readily digested of all the fats of general use in the world. The oil furnishes about 9,500 calories of energy per kilogram. Its chief competitors are soya bean oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.

Coconut oil retards aging. It counteracts heart, colon, pancreatic and liver tumor inducers. And it is easy to digest.

In the detergent industry, coconut oil is very important. Its most outstanding characteristic is its high saponification value in view of the molecular weight of most of the fatty acid glycerides it contains.

An advantageous utilization of the coconut oil as a detergent was discovered in a May 1951 study wherein a formulation using coconut oil was found to be an effective sanitizer.

Other products from coco oil are soap, lard, coco chemicals, crude oil, pomade, hampoo, margarine, butter and cooking oil.

Coconut Leaves

Cocnut leaves produce good quality paper pulp, midrib brooms, hats and mats, fruit trays, waste baskets, fans, beautiful midrib decors, lamp shades, placemats, bags and utility roof materials.

Coconut Fruit

The coconut fruit produces buko, often used for salads, halo-halo( crushed ice with sweetened fruit), sweets and pastries. Buko is of three kinds: mala-kanin, or having the consistency of boiled rice; mala-uhog, mucus-like consistency and ready for eating; and mala-katad, or like leather. The last kind is the one used for making sweets.

A mature coconut, or niyog is used in making sweets and special Filipino dishes.

The "sport fruit" of the coconut is the makapuno. Considered a delightful delicacy and largely used for making preserves and ice-cream, it cannot be kept in storage and will not germinate. It has three layers: semi-acid, soft and hard meat.

Coconut Water

Coconut water is also called liquid endosperm. It is thrown away during copra making and becomes a great waste. Uses of coconut water include: coconut water vinegar; coconut wine; production of the chewy, fiber-rich nata good as a dessert and as a laxative; as a growth factor; and as a substitute for dextrose.

Another breakthrough use is in coconut water theraphy to cure renal disorders. "Bukolysis", as it is also called, is the medical process of reducing or dissolving urinary stones of the urinary tract systems using buko water from 7 to 9 months old coconuts. Bukolysis is the brainchild of Dr. Eufemio Macalalag Jr., a urologist. For preventive medication, water from one mature coconut consumed daily, could almost guarantee that the formation of stones in the urinary tract will be avoided. To those already afflicted, the coconut water theraphy has been proven to be an inexpensive and effective cure. Coconut water is commonly promoted as an economical thirst quencher, hunger satisfier and medical cure for renal disorders all in one.

Using coconut water, a nata de coco-like growth produced after 14 days which, when cooked in syrup, is apopular dessert. When mixed with other ingredients, like the making of fruit salad, it will enhance the flavor of the dish. And whoever said that nata de coco is just for food was wrong. This nata-like growth is dextran and can be made to comply with the specifications for clinical dextran, then we have in the coconut water an important contribution in the atomic defense against radiation sickness.