Why can’t you find coconut water and coconut flesh in the coconuts you eat?

I still remember the first time I ate coconut, I was so excited that I thought I could finally eat fresh coconut juice and coconut fruit. But the juice I sucked out was transparent, completely different from the milky white coconut juice I usually drink.

When you cut open a coconut, the white coconut flesh is exposed, which is not the chewy and transparent coconut fruit at all.

Coconut meat and coconut water

Is it possible that the coconut milk and coconut fruit we usually eat are fake? Or is there something wrong with the coconut?

The coconut is indeed an ordinary coconut, but coconut milk and coconut nut are never ready-made. Instead, it takes some effort to obtain them, especially the coconut nut.

In general, we eat the flesh of fruits and remove the seeds. But in coconuts, you can't see the seeds, because what you eat is the seed, or more precisely, the kernel .

The surface of the coconut fruit just picked from the tree is a layer of green exocarp . Remove this layer of skin, and you will see the mesocarp composed of loose fibers, and then the hard woody endocarp , followed by a thin layer of seed coat , and finally the coconut meat.

The basic structure of a coconut | Image source: WordPress/Wikipedia

The white coconut meat corresponds to the solid endosperm structure of the seed, while the transparent coconut water is the liquid endosperm . The endosperm is the nutrient reservoir of the seed, providing energy for the growth of the plant embryo. The endosperm is also the main food we eat when we eat rice and corn.

Coconut meat is rich in nutrients. Every 100 grams contains 33 grams of fat (89% is saturated fat), 15 grams of carbohydrates (6 grams of sugar + 9 grams of dietary fiber), 3 grams of protein, and the rest is water and various trace elements.

Coconut water is indeed "watery", 95% water, 4% carbohydrates, and protein, fat and trace elements make up the remaining 1%.

The milky white coconut milk is not made from coconut water, it is squeezed from coconut meat , and because of its high fat content, it tastes as smooth as milk. Coconut flakes and coconut oil also come from coconut meat.

Coconut oil extracted from coconut pulp

You may naturally think, is coconut jelly a "jelly" made from coconut juice?

Coconut flakes and coconut meat have nothing to do with each other. Coconut water is the raw material for making coconut flakes .

Even with this reminder, most people would not realize that coconut flakes are actually "vomited out" by bacteria .

This bacterium is called Komagataeibacter xylinus . Coconut water is used to feed these bacteria, allowing them to metabolize and produce bacterial cellulose . This is like eating grass and squeezing out milk from a cow (you can also think in the other direction).

Acetobacterium xylinum producing fiber under a microscope | Image source: Hirai et al. 2002

After the coconut water is adjusted to the appetite of the wood acetic acid bacteria, it can be fermented. During the fermentation process, the bacteria will convert the sugar in the culture medium into cellulose , which accumulates on the surface of the culture medium to form a layer of milky white transparent gel .

Pieces of gel are cut by machines and become coconut flakes.

Letting wood acetic acid bacteria "drink" coconut water and "spit out" coconut fruit is a fermentation process, just like using yeast to make wine and using lactic acid bacteria to make yogurt. It has long been a routine operation in the food industry.

Coconut flakes are just the metabolites of wood acetic acid bacteria. After synthesis, they are sterilized at high temperatures , so you cannot eat any live bacteria in them.

In order to reduce costs, many coconut fruits on the market have nothing to do with coconuts . Don't panic, they are not plastic. They are just replaced with other sugar solutions that are cheaper. The final product is still bacterial cellulose.

Microstructure of bacterial cellulose | Image source: Li, G. et al. (2017)

It is worth mentioning that bacterial fiber is not only edible, but also a renewable and environmentally friendly material . It has a finer structure than plant fiber, greater tensile strength, and stronger water retention capacity. Mixing it with plant fiber to make paper can improve the quality of paper, and it can also be used to make speaker diaphragms.

Image source: Wikipedia

Moreover, bacterial fibers have good biocompatibility , so they can be used to repair or manufacture organ tissues, such as artificial skin and blood vessels.

Bacterial fiber, like plant fiber, is a component that cannot be digested by the human body. It is not only low in calories but also can promote intestinal peristalsis .

But cellulose itself has no taste, so sweeteners and spices need to be added later to enhance the flavor . However, since you have already ordered dessert, the calories in coconut jelly are not worth worrying about.

Coconuts have many uses beyond your imagination. In addition to being edible, coconut oil can also be used to make soap and other toiletries . Coconut shell fibers can be used to weave mats, sacks and other daily necessities . Coconut leaves and trunks are also a traditional building material .

Coconut shell fiber products | Source: Wikipedia

After introducing the most familiar common coconut, let's talk about a few special "coconuts". They all belong to the palm family . For people in tropical areas, palm plants are an indispensable part of food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Sago palm

Image source: Alchetron

Sago palm , also known as sago tree, sago palm, sago coconut, yes, it is the sago in sago dew. Sago is not a grain like rice, but its main ingredient is starch .

Sago is often made into sago dew with coconut milk.

This starch is not derived from corn starch (from fruit), potato starch (from tubers), or sweet potato starch (from roots), but is extracted from the stem of the sago palm.

The pith of the sago palm is rich in starch | Source: Wikipedia

When the sago palm is in the ear stage, the planters will split it open, take out the pith, wash out the starch, and make it into granules to become sago. Locals also use sago palm starch to make pasta as a staple food. However, the sago sold in the market is often mixed with other starches such as cassava starch.

Coconut palm

Image source: Wikipedia

The coco de mer , also known as the sea coconut, is not an ordinary "coconut" that can be found on any island, but a species unique to the Seychelles . The most famous thing about the coco de mer is its world's largest seed , which is nearly half a meter in diameter and weighs up to 18 kilograms.

The diameter of the sea coconut seed is nearly half a meter

The unripe seeds of the sea coconut contain jelly-like "coconut meat", which is a traditional delicacy of the locals. Due to its unique shape, the flower spikes and seeds of the sea coconut have been over-harvested, and it is difficult to grow them in other places. As a result, it has fallen into an endangered state today, so foodies should give up the idea.

Sugar Palm

Image source: visoflora

If you are really curious about the taste of the sea coconut, you can use "Thai Sea Coconut" instead. It is actually the fruit of the sugar palm , which is much smaller than the sea coconut. It also contains similar transparent "coconut meat", which is said to be fragrant and refreshing.

Sugar palm "coconut meat" | Source: Wikipedia

However, the "coconut meat" of sugar palm is not very sweet. Its sugar-producing part is mainly the spike inflorescence . When it is cut open, sweet sugar juice will flow out, which can be used instead of sucrose.

Oil Palm

Oil palm plantations

Palm oil is no stranger to everyone. It is extracted from the fruit of the oil palm. This cheap oil is widely used in the food industry and chemical industry (cleaning products, biodiesel, etc.). Margarine, vegetable butter, and the vegetable oils that you often see in food ingredient lists are mostly palm oil.

Palm fruit and palm oil

However, due to high demand and high economic benefits, oil palm plantations have continued to expand and have encroached on a lot of forests, threatening local species diversity.

It can be said that human beings have reached the extreme of utilizing palm plants, but then again, it is not certain who is utilizing whom.