Coconut tree
Synonyms: coconut palm
Scientific Name: Cocos nucifera L.
Family: Arecaceae (palm trees)
Habitat
South-East Asia, presumably Malaysia.
Constituents
Coconut meat: 35% fat, trace elements such as potassium, phosphorus, copper, iron, zinc and selenium. Coconut oil: primarily saturated fatty acids, of which approximately 50% lauric acid.
Description
It is impossible to imagine tropical beach coastlines without their coconut trees. Towering at a height of up to 30 metres, the tree tops are dominated by a spherical crest of 30 to 40 impressive palm leaves, measuring up to five metres long and weighing 10 to 15 kilograms. The narrow segments of each individual palm leaf are flexibly connected to the base of the leaf blade. This enables the thirsty coconut tree to overlap the segments and prevent too much water from evaporating from its leaves. The palm fronds grow in a spiral format, usually progressing clockwise from the highest point of the trunk. In the first year, they point upwards, in the second year horizontally and in the third year, they hang down, ready to fall from the tree leaving leaf scars on the trunk.
The structural pliability of the palm fronds has invaluable benefits when subjected to the strong, tropical winds. The trunk is also designed for flexibility. The thick base and the outer area are far more stable than the top and the inside of the trunk. Coconut trees are firmly anchored in the ground with roots that grow both sideways and downwards to groundwater. Coupled with their trunks’ pliability, this even enables them to withstand tsunamis.
At five to seven years old, coconut trees start to blossom. All year round, flowers grow from the axils – yellow branches with up to 40 female flowers at the base and over 10,000 male flowers extending out to the tip. The male flowers open up about two weeks before the female ones to prevent self-pollination. The pollen is spread by the wind and various insects. Once the female flowers have been pollinated, coconuts grow. Their various development stages can be seen side by side with the flowers, as is typical in the tropics: we rarely find tropical trees that flower and bear fruit in different seasons; everything seems to happen at once.
Incidentally, from a botanical perspective, the coconut is not actually a nut; it is a drupe, like the almond. The seeds with their endosperm (the edible, white coconut meat with brown skin) are surrounded by a woody outer casing, the brown coconut shell, from which many various items are made. Once the fibrous, non-edible fruit meat and the hard fruit shell have been removed, the kernel is sold in shops. It takes about a year for a coconut to ripen fully. During this period, an extraordinary change takes place inside the coconut: the initially plentiful coconut water seems to disappear. In its place, a soft, thin, gelatinous layer develops into thick, solid coconut meat.
Despite weighing a fair amount, coconuts can still float and therefore be spread by water. This is because the fibrous meat, which traps air, and the watertight hollow in the kernel make them buoyant. Upon falling into the sea, the coconuts float to new shores where they become beached and germinate. The seedling grows out of one of the three seedling pores in the kernel. Anyone wanting to get to the coconut water should bore out the kernel from this active germination pore.
Interesting Facts
The scientific name ‘Cocos’ comes from the Spanish word ‘coco’, meaning skull or head and accurately describing the coconut. The word ‘Nucifera’ is derived from the Latin ‘nux’ = ‘nut’ and ‘ferre’ = ‘to carry’, therefore meaning nut-carrying.
Coconut oil should not be confused with palm oil. The latter is obtained from oil palms (Elaeis guineensis), which are grown on large plantations created by clearing huge areas of rainforest. In contrast, coconut tree plantations are usually small and offer growers a good livelihood due to the plants’ versatile uses. For example, the fallen leaves and shells from 35 palm trees can supply a family of five in India with fuel for a year. On mixed crop plantations, the large trees provide shade for the other plants.
As the ripe coconuts do not always fall to the ground of their own accord, pickers climb the trees in the plantations. In Thailand and Malaysia, macaque monkeys have been trained to collect the ripe coconuts from the trees.
At the end of the 19th century, Dr. Heinrich Schlinck (1840–1909), the owner of a refinery for technical plant oils, developed a procedure for obtaining coconut fat, which he launched on the market in 1887 under the name ‘Mannheim coconut butter’. The German Agrarian League saw coconut fat as a serious competitor to their butter and protested against the product name. Although this did not stop Schlinck from selling his product, from 1892 he did so under the protected brand name ‘Palmin’ (derived from ‘palm’). Sales of the new fat soared. At the end of the 19th century, almost all fats on the market were animal fats, which were becoming harder to get hold of and more expensive due to rapid population growth. As a lower cost product, Palmin filled the gap in supply. Furthermore, coconut fat actually has nutritional benefits over butter. Although it is based on saturated fatty acids, these are mainly medium-chain acids such as lauric acid, which our digestive system can optimally use. Lauric acid is one of the components found in breast milk.
In the Philippines, there are many legends involving the coconut tree, such as the following creation myth: in ancient times, when the Earth was still desolate and empty, three gods ruled the universe without knowing of the others’ existence. The god Bathala lived on the Earth and the serpent god Ulilang in the clouds. The winged god Galang, on the other hand, travelled from place to place. When Bathala and Ulilang met for the first time, such a great power struggle ensued between them after three days that they saw a dual as the only resolution. Bathala killed the serpent god, burned his remains and buried his ashes. In complete contrast, when Bathala met Galang, such a great friendship was formed that they lived together happily for many years. When Galang became ill and realised that he was going to die, he asked his friend to bury his body in the same place as he had buried the serpent god’s ashes. Bathala looked on with astonishment as out of the shared grave there rose a huge tree with long leaves and spherical fruits: a coconut tree. He saw in it elements of both of the gods: the trunk took on the shape of the serpent god Ulilang while the feathery palm fronds reminded him of his friend Galang’s wings and the coconuts of his face. Bathala took this as a sign and finally began to create life on Earth. He started with plants and trees before finally creating humans, who could look after the coconut tree. Bathala used the trunk and the palm fronds to build the first house, while the coconuts provided food for the people.
Another story from the Philippines is as follows: the Sultan’s daughter Putri was so beautiful that she was surrounded by an endless stream of admirers. Her father insisted that she marry one of them. However, as is the case in fairytales, Putri fell in love with Wata-Mama, the palace gardener, who also loved her in return. Conveniently, Wata-Mama turned out to be a prince whose parents had been killed. But the young lovebirds’ happiness was not to last for long as a jealous rival killed and beheaded the prince. In the place where Wata-Mama’s head was buried, a coconut tree appeared. It grew all the way up to grieving Putri’s window and looked in with its coconuts.
Incidentally, walking around under coconut trees is not exactly safe. Every year, 150 people around the world are killed by coconuts. Among the reasons that they fall are palm thieves (Birgus latro). With a body length of up to 40 centimetres and a leg span width of up to a metre, the palm thief is the world’s largest land-dwelling crab. Also known as coconut crabs, these hermit crabs climb coconut trees in search of food and use their powerful claws to crack the coconut shells to get to the meat inside. This sometimes causes entire fruits to fall.
The plant in our products
For Dr. Hauschka Skin Care we process native organic coconut oil from a cultivation project in Sri Lanka, which is both Naturland and fair-for-life certified. The oil is pressed from fully ripe fruits and is neither refined nor bleached or deodorised. It therefore retains its pleasant aroma and taste. Also retained in the native coconut oil are the natural secondary plant compounds, vitamins and minerals because the white coconut meat is pressed with its brown skin.
However, organic quality and mixed-crop coconut plantations farmed in an ecologically sustainable manner are not the only focus points. The social and economic welfare of the people are also at the heart of the smallholder farming project. This is confirmed by the fair-for-life certification from the Institute for Marketecology (IMO). In addition to ensuring fair and safe working conditions, the project managers also look after the health of the farmers and oil mill workers. There is no child labour and the fair payment of the employees and farmers as well as their right to a voice are all a matter of course.
Coconut oil is contained in:
Fermented coconut extract is contained in:
