The English name coconut, first mentioned in English print in 1555,
comes from Spanish and Portuguese word ‘coco’, meaning ‘monkey
face.'
Spanish and Portuguese explorers found a resemblance to a monkey's
face in the three round indented markings or 'eyes' found at the base of
the coconut.
On the Nicobar Islands of the Indian Ocean, whole coconuts were used
as currency for the purchase of goods until the early part of the
twentieth century.
Coconuts are the fruit of the coconut palm, botanically known as ‘cocos nucifera’, with ‘nucifera’
meaning 'nut-bearing.' The fruit-bearing palms are native to Malaysia, Polynesia and southern Asia,
and are now prolific in South America, India, the Pacific Islands, Hawaii and Florida.
The light, fibrous husk allow it to easily drift on the oceans to other continents & islands to
propagate. In Sanskrit, the coconut palm is known as ‘kalpa vriksha’, meaning 'tree which gives all
that is necessary for living,' since nearly all parts of the tree can be used in some manner or
another.
The coconut itself has many food uses, including milk, meat, sugar and oil as well as functioning as
its own dish and cup. The husk was also burned for fuel by natives, but today a seed fiber
called ‘coir’ is taken from the husk and used to make brushes, mats, fishnets, and rope.
A very potent fermented toddy or drink is also made from the coconut palm's sap.
Coconut oil, a saturated fat made from dried coconut meat, is used for commercial frying and in
candies and margarines, as well as in non-edible products such as soaps and cosmetics.
Although it takes up to a year for coconuts to mature, the trees bloom up to thirteen times a year,
so fruit is constantly forming yielding a continuous harvest year-round. An average harvest from
one tree runs about 60 coconuts, with some trees yielding three times that amount. The coconut's
name is a bit of a misnomer, since it is botanically classified as a drupe and not a nut. It is the
largest seed known.
A fresh coconut will contain the almost transparent coconut juice or water which has a slight
almond flavor. Contrary to popular belief, this is not the coconut milk.
It is consumed fresh from the coconut. When cooked with seafood will enhance the flavor & taste –
a favorite recipe of the connoisseur.
The Coconut Water:
'It's a natural isotonic beverage, with the same level of
electrolytic balance as we have in our blood. It's the fluid of life,
so to speak.'
'Coconut water is the very stuff of Nature, biologically pure, full
of natural sugars, salts, and vitamins to ward off fatigue... and is
the next wave of energy drinks but natural!' -Mortin Satin, Chief
of the United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organization.
Coconut water is also used as an intravenous hydration fluid in some developing countries where
medical saline is unavailable.
During the Pacific War of 1941-45, both sides in the conflict regularly used coconut water siphoned
directly from the nut – to provide emergency plasma transfusions to wounded soldiers.
Once exposed to air, the liquid rapidly loses most of its organoleptic and nutritional characteristics,
and begins to ferment.
IT IS:
•
More Nutritious than whole milk -less fat with zero cholesterol
•
Healthier than Orange Juice -lower calories
•
Better than processed baby milk-contains lauric acid present in human mother's
milk
•
Naturally sterile
•
Identical to human blood plasma
•
Natural isotonic beverage -same level as in our blood
COCONUT WATER CAN:
•
Keep the body cool and at the proper temperature
•
Orally re-hydrate your body -an all natural isotonic beverage
•
Carry nutrients and oxygen to cells -replenishing the body's fluids especially after
exercises.
•
Raise body metabolism
•
Promote weight loss
•
Boost immune system
•
Detoxify and fight viruses
•
Cleanse digestive tract
•
Control diabetes
•
Aid in fighting viruses
•
Balance PH and reduce risk of cancer
•
Treat kidney and urethral stones
•
Boost poor circulation
Composition of coconut water : % Water 95.5 Nitrogen 0.05 Phosphoric acid 0.56 Potassium 0.25
Calcium oxide 0.69 Magnesium oxide 0.59 g/100g Iron 0.5 Total solids 4.71 Reducing sugars 0.80
Total sugars 2.08 Ash 0.62
NOTES:
Source: Pandalai, K. M. (1958). Coconut water and its uses. Coconut Bull. 12, No. 5, 167-173.
11.17am/Monday/5.4.10/Home – Jade Tower, Bayshore Park, Singapore
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