Aceite de coco

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Coconut Oil
Elias C. Canapi, Yvonne T. V. Agustin, Evangekube A. Moro, ´ ˜o Economico Pedrosa, Jr., Marıa Luz J. Bendan 1. THE COCONUT PALM In the tropics, the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera, L.) is one of the most useful trees. The palm reaches 30 m or more in height, with a striped, unbranched, and relatively smooth trunk measuring approximately 25 cm in diameter and crowned with some 30fronds, each of which is about 5–6 m long. The roots may extend up to 10 m in sandy soil, serving as anchor in addition to their primary function as nutrient absorbers and breathing organs (1). As a perennial provider of food, beverage, shelter, animal feed, and feed-stock for the oleochemical industries, the palm is reverently described as the Tree of Life, Tree of Heaven, and other such metaphors bypeople of coconut-producing countries. In some areas of the tropics, the palm grows with a minimum of attention through a lifespan of more than 50 years. Its fruit, the coconut, has been referred anticlimactically as the ‘‘lazy man’s crop’’; coconuts produced throughout the year drop to the ground when mature, there to be collected at leisure. Commercial farms, however, are tended and developedto maintain and improve productivity.

1.1. Geographical Distribution Within 20 north and south latitudes, the coconut palm is productive, especially along coastal areas (2). Palms grown beyond the limits of the Torrid Zone are

Bailey’s Industrial Oil and Fat Products, Sixth Edition, Six Volume Set. Edited by Fereidoon Shahidi. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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generally nonproductive. The major coconut-growing areas are located in Asia, islands of the Pacific Ocean, Africa, and Central and South America. In 1991 the world coconut hectarage was 10.9 million (3).

1.2. Agronomy Coconut farms are established in a wide variety of soil types, from littoral sands to heavy clay. Palms grown in well-aerated soil are productive and tolerate soil pHranging from 5 to 8 (4). In determining the suitability of sites for coconut farms, a good supply of soil moisture with adequate drainage are considered the foremost factors. Water supply may come from well-distributed rainfall (1300–2300 mm/year), irrigation, or from accessible water table (5). The extremes, excessive rainfall and drought, affect the nut yield per palm. The coconut palm thrives wellin plenty of sunlight. It has been observed that the palm produces more female flowers and a higher weight of copra per nut during the months of May to August when there is abundant sunshine. Furthermore, young palms grow slowly when planted under old trees in the course of rehabilitating plantations (6). Soil, water, and foliar analyses in coconut plantations are conducted to determine the typeof fertilizer and micronutrients required by the palm. Long-term studies show that the application of potassium or sodium chlorides in optimum doses as supplements to the standard nutrients for inland farms increases yields in nuts per tree and copra per nut (7, 8).

1.3. Propagation The method of propagation for coconut palms is through seednuts. Due to the highly heterogeneous character ofcoconut palms, progenies do not necessarily exhibit all the desirable characteristics of the parent palms. Through selection of seeds from elite parents, vigorous and productive palms may be evolved. The long span of six or more years required to evaluate the performance of progenies of coconut palms has underlined the need to explore other methods of propagation; the response appears to be thecurrent interest in the development of tissue culture techniques. Seedlings. Propagation of the coconut palm starts from the collection of fully matured nuts (11–12 months old) from selected palms. The seednuts are stored in the shade for at least one month. In the nursery, seednuts are set to germinate in loose and friable soil provided with adequate moisture and drainage facilities. Some farmers...