Coconut

Overview

One of the most useful plants for humans is coconut (Cocos nucifera), which provides a wide range of foods and other commodities. The coconut palm is believed to be native to the coastal regions (the coastal zone) of Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines) and Melanesia, and it is widely believed that Portuguese sailors gave the name "coconut" in the 16th century because the three holes on the coconut looked like a human face (Coco means "laughing face" or "grimace").

Vernacular Names

Kelapa (Indonesia), Ye zi (Chinese), Noix de coco (French), Kokos (Dutch, German), Koko yashi (Japanese), Coqueiro (Portuguese), Coco de agua (Spanish), Niyog (Philippines), Dừa (Vietnamese).

Agroecology

It grows best in full sun in climates with annual temperatures of 21 to 30 °C (annual sunlight hours above 2,000 hours). It is sensitive to cold, the palm is harmed by temperatures below 7 °C and frost is fatal to seedlings and young palms. Found mostly from sea level 500 up to 1,000 m at low altitude. Adaptable to a wide range of light, medium, and heavy soil types, peaty soil, sandy calcareous, saline soils. 5.5 to 7 is the ideal pH range.

Morphology

• Trunk - stout, thickened at the base, marked with annular scars, 30 to 50 cm in diameter.
• Leaves - crowded at the apex of the trunk, 3.5 to 6 m long, with a stout petiole, 1 m or more in length.
• Flowers - with small, ovate, valvate sepals and oblong, valvate petals, the male flowers are small and yellowish. Female flowers, with imbricate sepals and shorter convolute petals, are much larger and rounded.
• Fruits - the outer epicarp (outer skin), mesocarp (the fibrous portion between the epi-endocarp), and endocarp are composed of (the hard dark core). The endosperm, the strong white albumen of varying thickness depending on the age of the fruit, is inside and the coconut water is the liquid albumen.

Cultivation

Generative propagation via seeds. A popular method of vegetative propagation for the production of a large number of offspring is tissue culture.

Chemical Constituents

Cytokinins, auxin, gibberellins (GAs), amino acids, terpenoids, alkaloids, resins, glycosides, steroids, lauric acid myristic acids, caproic acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, oleic acid.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Considered as antitumor, antidotal, antiseptic, aperient, aphrodisiac, astringent, bactericidal, depurative, diuretic, pediculicide, refrigerant, stomachic, styptic, suppurative, vermifuge.
• Cytotoxic, emetic, emollient, hypotensive, and purgative seed oil is seed oil.
• Roots were considered diuretic, astringent, and antiscorbutic.
• Astringent and possibly vermifuge, fresh coconut water is considered. Also known in large doses as demulcent and aperient.
• The refrigerant, nutrient, aperient, diuretic, and anthelmintic are considered endosperm coco milk.
• Seed oil is rubbed into stiff joints to treat rheumatism and back pain or to keep the skin smooth and soft as an ointment.
• Mixed with turmeric for the treatment of sick newborn infants and women just born. The abdomen is massaged with coconut oil to place the baby from the breech into a normal position in the womb of the mother.
• Women who have difficult pregnancies are given juice from a green cocoon. Juice is also used for the treatment of kidney problems.
• The root is used in the treatment of urinary stomach pain and blood, boiled in combination with Ruellia tuberosa root, and used as an aphrodisiac and as a treatment for bladder ailments.
• Weakness after childbirth is treated in Fiji with liquid extracted from the stem. In treating maternal postpartum disease, juice from the midrib at the lower base of the leaf is used.
• In New Guinea, portions of the plant are treated for sores and scabies. A poultice made of the apical bud is used externally to treat ulcers. Through the use of a dry, spongy kernel, hemorrhaging is halted.