The Coconut: Tree of Life

The coconut tree 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 and it provides livelihood to one-third of the country’s population.

MEAT

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

Coco chips, are curved and wrinkled coconut meat which is crispy toasted and salted. It is very popular in Hawaii. Coconut flour can be used as a wheat extender in baking certain products without affecting the appearance or acceptability of the item.

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

COCO OIL

Copra is dried coconut meat with oil contents as high as 64 percent. 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. The uses of vegetable oil on the other hand, are many. Its chief competitions are soya bean oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.

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

In the detergent industry, coconut oil is very important. Its most outstanding characteristic is high saponification value due to the molecular weight of most of the fatty acid glycerides contained therein.

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

LEAVES

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

BUKO

The young coconut fruit is sold as “buko,” which is often used for salads, halo-halo (native sherbet) and sweet delicacies. “Buko” is considered to come in three kinds according to the consistency of its meat: ” 1) mala-kanin, meaning like boiled rice; 2) mala-uhog, meaning similar to mucus, and ready for eating; and 3) mala-katad, meaning like leather. The latter 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. Only about one in several hundred coconut trees will produce makapuno fruits, and that only as a fraction of the tree's total fruit output. Considered as 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.

WATER

Coco water is also called liquid endosperm. It is thrown away during copra making and becomes a great waste. Uses of coconut water include: (1) coconut water vinegar; (2) coconut wine; (3) production of nata; (4) as a growth factor; (5) as a substitute for dextrose for intravenous feeding; and (6) as a nutritious health drink specially for active people.

Another breakthrough in coconut water utilization is its use as a cure for renal disorders. “Bukolysis”, as it is called, is the medical process of reducing or dissolving urinary stone(s) of the urinary tract system using buko water from seven to nine 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 could be avoided. To those already afflicted, the coconut water therapy 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-like growth produced after 14 days which, when cooked in syrup, is a popular 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, or 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.

HUSK

Coconut husks are made of bristle fiber (10%), mattress fiber (20%) and coir dust and shorts or wastes (70%).

With the abundance of fiber, establishment of cottage industries will be encouraged in the manufacture of brushes, doormats, carpets, bags, ropes, yarn, fishing nets, mattresses, etc.

Coir fiber can also be used as substitute for jute in making rice, copra, sugar, coffee, bags and sandbags. It is also suitable for making pulp and paper (kraft), etc. For the first time, the Philippines can export coir fiber to Japan, Germany and the United States with proper assistance extended by the government, the industry being new.

The wall board is manufactured from coir dust and short fibers. No binding materials are needed as lignin is inherent in the coconut husk. Also it is “anay (termite) proof” because creosote is present in the new material. The board produced is as good as the narra plywood or masonite.

Coir yarn, coir rope, bags, rugs, husk décor, husk polishers, mannequin wigs, brushes, coirflex, and fishnets are other products that can be obtained from coco husk. Out of coir dust can be obtained coco peat, coco gas, lye insulator, insoflex, and plastic materials.

PITH

Out of its pith can be produced coco pickles, guinatan, and lumpia. Its “guinit” can produce helmets, caps, bakya straps, handbags, fans, picture and house décor like lamp shades and guinit flowers for the table.

Ever heard of the “Millionaire’s Salad”? It’s fit for any ordinary man though. It is made up of “palmette cabbage,” also known as "palm heart" or ubod in the local language. It comes from the pith or core material at the "crown" of the coconut tree. In fact, “ubod” is considered one of the finest vegetables in the Philippines. It can be served in many appetizing ways - in salads, lumpia (spring rolls), with noodles, etc. etc., and goes specially well with seafood.

Palm hearts are the final gift of the coconut tree - they can only be obtained by cutting down the tree, and should be harvested only when a tree is at the end of its productive life. By Philippine law, only coconut trees 60 years old and above can be cut down for lumber and palm heart.

INFLORESCENCE/NECTAR

Out of the bud of the coconut tree’s inflorescence is a juice called coconut toddy or tuba. The fermented tuba would be a good drink even for those who have a finer taste. The principal uses of the toddy are: (1) as fresh beverage; (2) production of alcoholic beverages; (3) production of vinegar; (4) production of sugar; (5) source of yeast for making bread.

Coconut toddy can be distilled to produce a liquor known as lambanog. Lambanog is about 96 proof (~48% alcohol), equivalent to strong sake or shochu but generally sweeter. It contains about 12-18% sugar (sucrose).

Other products out of the coconut tree’s inflorescence are gin, vinegar, candy trays, Christmas and wall décor.

SHELL

Coco shell produces the core of most saleable products that can be turned into lucrative, wide-selling cottage industries. Among them are shell necklaces, shell bags, cigarette boxes, shell ladles, buttons, lamp shades, fruit and ash trays, guitars, placemats, coffee pots, cups, wind chimes, “coco banks”, briquetted charcoal and activated carbon.

The most important use of coconut shell is activated carbon produced from its charcoal. It is utilized in air purification systems such as cooker hoods, air conditioning, industrial gas purification systems and industrial and gas masks.

TRUNK

Out of the coconut trunk, hardy and durable wood is obtained to make benches, tables, carvings, picture frames, table signs, tool boxes, construction materials and executive tables. Paper pulp can also be extracted from the coconut trunk and other woody parts of the tree.

Among the woody parts of the tree, the trunk gives the highest pulp yield of 43 percent; the midribs, 41 percent and the petiole or the slender step that supports the leaf, 32 percent. Tests also show that coconut coir (60 percent) and abaca bleached sulfate pulp (40 percent) are good combination for the production of offset bookpaper. Medicine, beverages and dye stuff are obtained from its roots.

By Philippine law, only coconut trees 60 years old and above can be cut down for lumber.