Coconut: The Tree of Life. known as the coconut tree has many uses, ranging from the root to the tip (leaf), of non-culinary and culinary / food, and industrial products to medicinal products. For many countries in the world, this plant is referred to as the "Tree of Life".Botanic name: Cocos nuciferaFamily: Palmae, palm family (also known as the 'Arecaceae')
Coconut plants (trees)
High coconut trees can reach 15 to 30 meters on the plantation. Circle the trunk with grated / goretan former old leaves have fallen. The top part of the stem in crowned with flower-shaped leaves of a rose.Leaf. Feather-shaped palm leaf which is divided into sheets so much. The length of the leaves can reach 7 meters containing 250 sheets. Coconut leaves can be made into a woven mat, woven and used for roofing.
Interest . Male and female flowers grow on the same plant with flowering branches. Flower color is pale yellow with a length of approximately 1 cm. The flowering stem sap is tapped to be taken.
Coconut . Coconuts oval and covered with a smooth skin-colored bright green, bright orange or ivory colors. Under the crust there is a thick layer of fiber used for fiber. The next layer is the shell of the seed that has the three characteristics of the 'eye'. Shell can be used to make charcoal and utensils. The inside of the shell covered with a white coating that can be eaten, the so-called meat or fruit kopra.Daging was also made into a chemical product, industry and medicine. Fluid in the hole is called coconut water coconut seed. When the seeds germinate, the new stem will emerge from one of his shell.
Coconut is the only species on the type of Cocos.Coconut - production and trade Palm tree called the 'tree of life' because of its variety. This plant is grown and developed in tropical regions for fiber and fuel, but also best known as a food ingredient. These plants are also included in the seventh most important vegetable oils in the world.
Cultivation Plantations are usually made by planting seeds. First of all the seeds are placed in the beds of the first places to germinate until the leaves open. After that, seedlings grown on land with a neat line.
Harvest and Processing The first flowers will appear starting in year two up to seven, depending on the development of plants and coconuts can be harvested a year later. Coconut is the most important part of the palms and plants are usually harvested by climber-climbers and a superb coconut palm bunches by cutting old.
Fallen fruit collected at the bottom or can be taken from the trunk with a knife blade of bamboo tied in coconut panjang.Tanaman be productive fruitful for 50 to 100 years, although the best results is between 10 to 20 years.
Coconuts are harvested and then stored until the fibers are completely dry. Then removed from the shell of coconut fibers by way of plug and then in turn on a sharp-pointed iron is plugged firmly into the ground. These fibers are used for making coir. For the coconut flour, coconut milk, oil and other processed forms, halved coconut shell with a large knife / ax then the meat is separated or removed.
Oils made from copra is the dried coconut meat and then be milled to make cake or oil for cosmetic products, industry and medicine. This material is a source of lauric acid which is used to create a common detergents such as soap, although faced with increasing competition from other oils in the world market. Shell is used to create any kind of utensils, containers, carving and charcoal to be used for combustion or filtration (filtration).
Trade / Industry Use of Coconut
Coconut oil Coconut oil is also used as daily household needs, such as soap, cosmetics and shampoo. This is because the fatty acids contained in coconut oil makes a good solution for deterjen.Minyak coconut cream and fatty acids which are anti-microbial and is a mixture of so-called 'sucrose cocoate', which serves to moisten. This oil is used for skin treatments to relieve inflammation such as eczema and psioriasis. Cream for the scalp and shampoo contains coconut oil, including substance Capasal Cocois ® and ®. Cocoatejuga sucrose added in the pharmaceutical preparation as it can help the body absorb certain types of drugs.
Coconut milk Coconut water is a well-known type of beverage, which is taken from the ripe fruit, nutritious and contain sugars, vitamin E, amino acids and minerals.
Coconut water is also an antioxidant.Coconut is not harmful to health, but the use of palm oil on an ongoing basis with a large amount of oil is not recommended because it contains saturated fat associated with heart disease. Soap made from coconut materials can cause skin irritation in people who are sensitive to this material.
Food A researcher in the 16th century to appreciate the goodness of coconut with the writing "as we have bread, wine, oil and vinegar, and of everything that comes only from one (juice) coconut tree". Coconut is actually the main ingredient of the cuisine of Southeast Asia. Ranging from sweets, syrup until the curry, soup diet, fruit and other parts, which can be consumed.Coconut milk and coconut cream is made by pouring hot water into the fresh coconut meat is already ground and squeezed to remove liquid.
Coconut milk or cream can be added to water to create different viscosity for sweets, cake flavor foods and products. Coconut milk gives a unique texture that taste like cream when used on rice, soup and curry food. Coconut milk and cream sold in powder form and in cans. In stores in the UK most are sold in cans.
The process of making coconut flour is washed, steamed, shredded and then dried to be used in sweets, cakes, be pelezat food and for snacks. Oil used for cooking, the manufacture of margarine, ice cream and sweets.
Coconut oil can be processed by using fresh coconut meat or often by squeezing dry coconut, known as copra. Copra is made by drying the ball slowly, then his skin peeled back from the whole coconut. Ball copra is used for sweets on dish preparation for religious ceremonies. Water from the coconut fruit tastes sweet and is currently commercially tapped and then preserved a drink
.Palm heart and sap As with other types of palm, coconut palm heart of it delicious. Heart of palm is soft textured dipuncak stems, also known as cabbage palm (Palm cabbage). Coconut palms produce one of the toughest palm heart, which can reach up to 12 kg.
The sweet sap, which is called 'toddy tapped from the trunks of the unopened flower. To collect the sap, the stem base hit with a hammer and made a small hole or slit in the skin that covers the flower stalks. The container is placed under a slit or hole to accommodate the fluid out. This sap can be boiled to add palm sugar delicacy.
Palm sugar is fermented into wine containing alcohol which can then be distilled into liquor called 'arrack'. Palm wine is produced as a byproduct of the coconut vinegar.
Craft Coconut trees produce materials such as wood fiber and used in a variety of handicrafts in Southeast Asia. Of rope and footwear, to brush and container / bowl, some of these products are traditionally made and used in daily life in Southeast Asia. Other products preferred by the tourists or exported abroad.
Fiber Coir is a fiber that results from peeling out of coconuts. The fibers are soaked in water before the fibers are separated. Then the fiber is tied into the roll is called coir.
Coconut coir is traditionally used to make fishing nets and a bond for the frame of the house. Fiber is not too swell when soaked in water, coconut fiber ropes because it was used to bind and block the gap between the boards of the hull. Marco Polo used coir to attach or bind to the boards in shipbuilding. The best quality fiber used to make mats, rugs and carpets. Lower quality is used for making ropes, brushes and doormats for daily use in western countries, namely, to rub the feet.
Leaves, stems and fruit The leaves of the coconut tree to be made of traditional woven baskets, fans, hats and mats / pads. Palm leaves have been used to roof a house and a broom. Coconut tree trunk can be used to make furniture, tableware and for building. The hard coconut shell is formed perfectly to make a drink, spoon, soup spoon, pipe tobacco, and rubber latex penghidang salad bowls to placemats. Palm trunks can also be carved for decorative products such as photo frames.
Adapted from 'Plant Cultures' - www.plantcultures.org
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