Coconut

No plant species characterizes the idea of tropical coastal regions like the coconut palm. It grows in the warm, humid tropics around the equator between the 26 ° north and south latitudes. Coconut palms are cultivated in the entire tropical belt: in the Philippines, in Indonesia, in Sri Lanka, in South India and Vietnam, in Africa as well as on coasts and rivers of South America. The name ‘Cocos’ originally comes from ancient Greek and means ‘core’ or ‘berry’.

The coconut palm, which grow up to 25 meters, bears a lump of feathered leaves and needs plenty of water and sun. Dry and hot winds can damage the plant. As an evergreen plant, it bears fruit at various stages of development throughout the year, so coconuts are constantly ripening. The coconut is not a real nut, but a lonely drupe.

With about 45 million tons of of fruit wordwide, the coconut palm is one of the most important plants. About 8% of world vegetable oil needs are covered by the cultivation of coconut palms. The fresh pulp of the coconut has a water content of 45%, which is reduced to 5% by drying. This is referred to as copra - the raw material for coconut oil, coconut fat and margarine. Desiccated coconut is obtained by grinding the copra in mills, sorted into fine and medium and used in various sweets.