Coconut - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 155

Table 9.2. Salient characters of the 14 forms of coconut under three major varieties.

Variety Form Fruit Size Epicarp Mesocarp Endocarp Cpora Quality

Typica Typica Large Green to brown Creamy white Thin Good

Kamandala Very large Green to brown Creamy white Thin Good

Bodiri Very small Green to brown Creamy white Very thin Inferior

Navasi Large Green Soft edible Thin Good

Ran-thembili Large Green Pink Thin Good

Gon-thembili Large Ivory yellow Creamy white Thin Good

Porapol Large Green Creamy white Very thick Fair

Dikiri pol Large Green Creamy white Thin Fair

Nana Pumilla (green) Small Green Creamy white Very thin Fair

Eburnean (yellow) Small Ivory yellow Creamy white Very thin Inferior

Regia (red) Small Apricot red Creamy white Very thin Inferior

Brown Small Brown Creamy white

Aurantica King coconut Large Orange Creamy white Very thin Fair

Navasi-thembili Large Orange Soft edible Very thin Fair

Source: Liyanage (1958).

are not preferred for copra production because the quality
of copra is poor and the per nut yield of copra is low (about
80-100 g).
Dwarf coconut varieties are also popular for landscaping.
In the United States, a coconut improvement program by
the Agricultural Research Service in Florida has focused on
'Fiji Dwarf' (Fig. 9.2), a very durable variety, to address a
shortage of coconut germplasm for the landscape purposes
(Flores, 2008).

Palms of the Aurantica variety are generally known as
'King' coconut. Although they have short economic life
span, the palms may grow to about 12-14 m in height.
Similar to variety Typica, these palms are also resistant to
drought as well as pest attack and diseases. They may also
perform well on any fertile soil provided that there is a well-
distributed rainfall throughout the year. Nut production of
Aurantica is similar to the Nana variety, which is around
100 nuts/palm/year. As the color of the epicarp of this

Figure 9.2. 'Fiji dwarf' (also called 'Niu Leka') coconut trees at the Subtropical Horticulture Research Station
in Miami, Florida (the taller palm in the background is a 'Royal palm') (source: Flores, 2008).