Providing shade for sunbathers is a very
recent development in the coconut’s evolution. For
several millennia it was a vital source of food and materials
on which many societies based their entire existence. In
fact the Sanskrit name for the coconut palm is kalpa vriksha,
meaning "tree which gives all that is necessary for
living.”
A large coconut can contain as much as a litre of coconut
water - used as a thirst-quencher, a cooking ingredient
and a component of medicines for thousands of years.
Now Cocofina is using a special extraction and natural
preservation method to make sure that the coconut water
on the shelves of your local store is as fresh, sweet and
healthy as it was when it came out of the shell.
The coconut provides not only coconut water but also flesh
which can be eaten fresh or dried to form copra, the basis
for coconut oil which was widely used from the early 19th
century to the mid 20th Century for soap manufacture and
cooking. A fibrous substance called coir extracted from
the husk is the basis for making many implements such as
brushes, mats, fishnets, and rope. The sap of the palm
is a vitamin-rich drink or, fermented, a potent toddy and
of course the wood and leaves can be used for building
materials.
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