Coconut: The Tree of 100 Uses

• For fuel: In the old days the shells, leaf stalks and trunks are used for firewood. In fact people in some parts of Southeast Asia still use charcoal made from coconut shells as source of fuel.
  Besides its uses in cooking, coconut oil has been tested for use as a feedstock for biodiesel to be used as a diesel engine fuel.
• For food: Dried coconut flesh called copra is used to make oil for cooking, young coconut flesh for snacks, coconut water for drinking, the apical buds of adult coconut plants are edible, vinegar can be made from sap collected from unopened fruit pods.
• Cosmetics: Coconut water is a popular hair conditioner in Southeast Asia. Coconut oil is also widely used in soaps and cosmetics. Currently, research is being done to see if coconut can be used in hair regrowth and anti-aging cosmetics.
• Construction: Coconut trunks, being fibrous, make good, cheap lumber. They are sawn into planks for building houses as demonstrated by the Coconut Palace in the Philippines. The trunks also make good bridges over small streams and leaves can be woven to make roofs.
• Handicrafts: The types of handicraft that can be made from all parts of the coconut is limited only by the creativity of the craftsman.
• Decoration: Miniature specie of coconuts are used as ornaments.
• Medicine: Coconut water can be used as a plasma extender (universal donor).  The water from the coconut has traditionally been used when commercial IV solutions of plasma have not been available.  This is often used in third world countries and was used extensively during World War Two in the South Pacific where the coconut was readily available.  There are also published findings that show coconut water being used in kidney dialysis and dissolving kidney stones.

• Coconut husks (coir) are used to make brooms, ropes, mats, brushes, sacks, caulking for boats and as stuffing fiber for mattresses. White coir is harvested from unripe coconuts, and is used for making finer brushes, string, rope and fishing nets.
• The ribs of coconut leaves are also made into brooms, satay skewers and toothpicks.
• An alcoholic drink can be made from sap obtain by cutting the unopened flower pods of the coconut.

Interesting facts about the coconut

• The sailors aboard Vasco de Gama's ships gave the coconut its name.  They called it "Coco", after a grimacing face or hobgoblin.  The brown, hairy husk and three face-like dimples made them think the seed looked like a sort of spirit.  When the "coco" came to England, the suffix of nut was added and that's how the name came about.
• The coconut is the national tree of the Maldives and is included in the country's national emblem or coat of arms. Coconut trees are grown on all the islands. Green coconut fuits are featured on each Maldivian rufiya banknote.
• In Malaysia and Thailand monkeys are trained to collect coconuts, with Thailand having established schools to train monkeys.
• The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club of New Orleans traditionally throws hand decorated coconuts-the most valuable of Mardi Gras souvenirs-to parade revelers. The "Tramps" began the tradition ca. 1901. In 1987, a "coconut law" was signed by Gov. Edwards exempting from insurance liability any decorated coconut handed from a Zulu float.
• The coconut has a role in religions. In the Ilocos region of northern Philippines, the Ilocano people fill two halved coconut shells with diket (cooked sweet rice), and place liningta nga itlog (halved boiled egg) on top of it. This ritual is known as niniyogan and is an offering made to the deceased and one's past ancestors. This accompanies the palagip (prayer to the dead).
  Coconuts feature in the Hindu epic stories the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and in the Puranas. It seems to have been adopted quite late into Aryan rituals, and northern India may have become familiar with the nut long after it was used in the coastal south.

Fun facts