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Archives
Sep 1-30, 2003
Coconut flour from
sapal; cheap and nutritious
by Rita T. dela Cruz
 Coconut
(Cocos nucifera) is the Philippines’ wonder tree.
Every part of it is used either for domestic or industrial
purposes including the by-products. Sapal is one of
the many by-products of coconut. It is the coconut meat
left after extracting the milk. These are often thrown
away since most people find no use for it.
But did you know that sapal could
be made into coconut flour? And nutritious as well!
This is the promise of a research conducted by Dr. Trinidad
P. Trinidad of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute
(FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
His study was presented during the recently held 17th
National Coco Week.
According to Dr. Trinidad, the
coconut flour from sapal is rich in dietary fiber, thus
a promising functional food. Functional foods are those
that provide health benefit beyond their basic nutrition.
It is similar in appearance to conventional food and
is consumed as part of usual diet. Functional food has
demonstrated physiological benefits that reduce the
risk of chronic disease.
A lot of our indigenous crops fall
as functional foods due to their dietary fibers content.
Some of these include the kampilan (red rice), kintab
(a variety of mungbean), and recently, the coconut flour
from sapal. Dietary fiber is important in preventing
risk of colon cancer. It binds with bile acids and prevents
its re-absorption in the liver, which inhibits cholesterol
synthesis. It is also effective in controlling and managing
diabetes mellitus and obesity by controlling the release
of glucose in the body.
Dr. Trinidad used three parameters
to determine the ‘functionality’ of coconut
flour as food: fermentability, mineral availability,
and the glycemic index.
The fermentability showed that
there is a significantly greater dietary fiber content
in the coconut flour than other local fiber sources
like banana, cassava, wheat and rice flours.
He also found that the mineral
availabile in coconut flour are: iron, zinc, calcium,
and phytic and tannic acids. Moreover, as coconut flour
itself is already a good source of dietary fiber, it
does not affect the mineral content of other food when
the coconut flour serves as an additive.
Glycemic index is a classification
of foods based on their glucose response relative to
a starchy food. This makes it therapeutic for diabetic
and obese persons by slowing down carbohydrate absorption.
Adding dietary fiber to food lowers the glycemic index
and in turn reduces postprandial blood glucose and insulin
responses. It improves the overall glucose and lipid
concentrations in normal patients and those with diabetes.
Foods supplemented with coconut flour have lower glycemic
index.
Although a lot of people are still
confused which food is functional and which is ‘just’
food, there is still a wide concern on which food is
healthy and which is junk. A lot of people are more
conscious in watching what they eat. Even though the
Philippines has no available policy on functional foods
it is still important that they be promoted to people.
This will also prevent people from being misguided by
false labeling of food.
With the discovery of coconut flour,
production of sapal becomes an attractive endeavor for
the coconut industry. It is nutritious. It is a good
source of generating income. 
Source:
"Coconut Flour from Sapal: A Promising Functional Food" by Dr. Trinidad P. Tinidad, paper presented during the 17th National Coco Week, 27 August 2003, PCA Auditorium, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines.
September 1-30 2003 Articles:
:: RP, IRRI hold workplan meeting
:: DA establishes DAGISNet; BAR technical adviser present potential
:: Dr. Solsoloy represents BAR in citrus forum
:: Functional foods seminar held
:: Crossing boundaries to save indigenous crops
:: Healthy oil?
:: Coconut flour form sapal; cheap and nutritious
:: BAR holds AFRDIS joint review meeting
::: More September 2003 articles :::
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