TREE OF A MILLION BENEFITS

The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genusCocos. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. The name comes from the old Portuguese and Spanish word coco, meaning 'head' or 'skull' after the three indentations on the coconut shell that resemble facial features. They are ubiquitous in coastal tropical regions, and are a cultural icon of the tropics. It is one of the most useful trees in the world, and is often referred to as the "tree of life".

 

Here's one of the many benefits in coconut,

1.       Coconut milk

Coconut milk, not to be confused with coconut water, is obtained by pressing the grated coconut meat, usually with hot water added which extracts the coconut oil, proteins, and aromatic compounds. It is used for cooking various dishes. Coconut milk contains 5% to 20% fat, while coconut cream contains around 20% to 50% fat. Most of which (89%) is saturated fat, with lauric acidas a major fatty acid. Coconut milk can be diluted to create coconut milk beverages. These have much lower fat content and are suitable as milk substitutes. The milk can be used to produce virgin coconut oil by controlled heating and removal of the oil fraction.

Coconut milk powder, a protein-rich powder can be processed from coconut milk following centrifugation, separation, and spray drying. Coconut milk and coconut cream extracted from grated coconut is frequently added to various dessert and savory dishes, as well as in curries and stews. It can also be diluted into a beverage. Various other products made from thickened coconut milkwith sugar and/or eggs like coconut jam and coconut custard are also widespread in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, sweetened reduced coconut milk is marketed as coconut syrup and is used for various desserts. Coconut oil extracted from coconut milk or copra is also used for frying, cooking, and making margarine, among other uses.

 

2.       Coconut water

Coconut water serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during its nuclear phase of development. Later, the endosperm matures and deposits onto the coconut rind during the cellular phase. It is consumed throughout the humid tropics, and has been introduced into the retail market as a processed sports drink. Mature fruits have significantly less liquid than young, immature coconuts, barring spoilage. Coconut water can be fermented to produce coconut vinegar.

Per 100-gram serving, coconut water contains 19 calories and no significant content of essential nutrients.

Coconut water can be drunk fresh or used in cooking as in binakol. It can also be fermented to produce a jelly-like dessert known as nata de coco.

 

3.       Coconut flour

Coconut flour has also been developed for use in baking, to combat malnutrition.

 

4.       Coconut oil

Another product of the coconut is coconut oil. It is commonly used in cooking, especially for frying. It can be used in liquid form as would other vegetable oils, or in solid form as would butter or lard.

 

5.       Coconut butter

Coconut butter is often used to describe solidified coconut oil, but has also been adopted as an alternate name for creamed coconut, a specialty products made of coconut milk solids or puréed coconut meat and oil. Coconut chips, made from oven-baked coconut meat, have been sold in the tourist regions of Hawaii and the Caribbean.

 

6.       Leaves

TRThe stiff midribs of coconut leaves are used for making brooms in India, Indonesia (sapu lidi), Malaysia, the Maldives, and the Philippines (walis tingting). The green of the leaves (lamina) is stripped away, leaving the veins (long, thin, woodlike strips) which are tied together to form a broom or brush. A long handle made from some other wood may be inserted into the base of the bundle and used as a two-handed broom.

The leaves also provide material for basketsthat can draw well water and for roofing thatch; they can be woven into mats, cooking skewers, and kindling arrows as well. Leaves are also woven into small piches that are filled with rice and cooked to make pusô and ketupat.

Dried coconut leaves can be burned to ash, which can be harvested for lime. In India, the woven coconut leaves are used to build wedding marquees, especially in the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

The leaves are used for thatching houses, or for decorating climbing frames and meeting rooms in Cambodia, where the plant is known as dôô:ng.

 

7.       Roots

The roots are used as a dye, a mouthwash, and a folk medicine for diarrhea and dysentery.  A frayed piece of root can also be used as a toothbrush. In Cambodia, the roots are used in traditional medicine as a treatment for dysentery.

 

8.       Other uses

 

The leftover fiber from coconut oil and coconut milk production, coconut meal, is used as livestock feed. The dried calyx is used as fuel in wood-fired stoves. Coconut water is traditionally used as a growth supplement in plant tissue culture and micropropagation. The smell of coconuts comes from the 6-pentyloxan-2-one molecule, known as δ-decalactone in the food and fragrance industries.

 

 

 

Nama   : HENY APRIANI

Kelas    : X PB 1