Coconut - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 152

9
Coconut

J. M. N. Marikkar and W. S. Madurapperuma

INTRODUCTION
Coconut palm ( Cocos nucifera L.) is an important mem-
ber of the family Palmaceae. As a perennial tree crop, it
exists in two major classes, which are typically recog-
nized on the basis of stature: tall and dwarf. Coconut is
grown in more than 85 countries; the world coconut pro-
duction data for selected years is shown in Figure 9.1. In
the last 2 decades, the world coconut production has seen a
consistent and sustained growth; production for 2010 was
62.5 million metric tons, which represented an increase of
almost 50% since 1990. Major coconut producing countries
in 2010 were: Indonesia, Philippines, India, Brazil, and Sri
Lanka are the top-five producers (Table 9.1); except for
Sri Lanka, all these countries have seen increased produc-
tion since 1990. Indonesia alone accounted for 33.1% of
the total world production. Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, and Dominican Republic were the top five co-
conut exporting countries in 2009, while China, Malaysia,
USA, United Arab Emirates, and Singapore were the major
importers of coconuts (FAO, 2011).
As a commodity, coconut plays a significant role both as
a means of livelihood and as a source of national income
for Indonesia. Nearly half of the annual production is used
for local consumption, while the balance is used for ex-
port of fresh nuts, copra, desiccated coconut, coconut oil,
coconut milk, and copra meal. Of the nuts used for local
consumption, a fair proportion goes as fresh nuts for milk
extraction, which is locally known as Santan. Coconut milk
is used as cooking medium for many Indonesian cuisines
as well as being added preferentially to delicacies, such as

Kuey, a pancake roll known as Dadar Gulung, ice cream,
and so on. It is also used as base material for the preparation
of Nata de Coco, a gelatinous substance resulting from the
fermentation by Acetobactor xylinum (Naka, 2006).
The Philippines, the second largest producer of coconuts,
is the world's biggest exporter of a range of coconut prod-
ucts (APCC, 2010). Fresh coconut, desiccated coconut, co-
pra meal, coconut milk powder, coconut water, liquid co-
conut milk, Nata de Coco, and virgin coconut oil are some
of the edible products, which earn a significant amount of
foreign exchange to the country (PCA, 2010). It is also re-
ported that more than 60% of the world's coconut oil comes
from the Philippines. In the Philippines, Nata de Coco is a
famous dessert produced out of the bacterial fermentation
of coconut water.
The steady growth of Indian coconut sector in recent
years is mainly due to the expansion of the cultivation into
new areas as well as the increased productivity of coconut
farming. The stiff import duties imposed on edible oils and
restricted import of the coconut products have played an
important role in keeping the domestic demand high. Co-
conut is demanded locally for the production of coconut oil,
edible copra, desiccated coconut, and coconut milk powder
as well as various culinary uses. Use of tender nuts as bev-
erage is widely popular among people of different walks
of life. It is estimated that about 5% of the annual harvest
is used for drinking purposes, while the rest is utilized as
mature nuts for household use, religious purposes, and the
production of edible copra, milling copra, and desiccated
coconut (CDB, 2010).