156 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



THE MACAPUNO COCONUT. 



(Sinhalese: Dikieipol) 



The Macapuno is a sport fruit of the coconut. 



The \v( r«l MacapuNo means full, and indicates that this coconnt con- 

 tains no water, but is nearly or quite full of a viscous, white, translucent 

 jelly, whose texture next the shell more or less closely approaches the firm- 

 ness of ordinary coconut meat. 



No means is known whereby a tree bearing macapuno coconuts can be 

 distinguished from one which bears normal nuts ; the natives recognize their 

 macapuno trees only by the fruit they bear. The only way of tolling an 

 unopened nut of this kind from an ordinary one is to shake it ; since it con- 

 tains no water no sound is made. 



The fruits borne by a macapuno tree are not all macipuno. From a 

 cluster containing about ten nuts about one to four may be gotten. The 

 usual number is two. 



The only fact which seems to be well established is that a tree which 

 bears a few macapuno nuts one year is likely to do so again. It is generally 

 believed that normal nuts from a tree which bears macapuno nuts will pro- 

 duce other trees of the same kind. The macapuno nuts themselves contain 

 a well marked embryo, but will not germinate. They soon spoil if an 

 attempt is made to store them. 



Macapuno bearing trees are often found grouped together in the older 

 coconut groves, a fact which might be supposed to indicate some soil 

 peculiarity as the predisposing cs.use of the abnormal fruit. 



As a preliminary ftudy of the nature of the macapuno nut, and the way 

 in which it differs from the ordinary coconut, an analysis is here presented, 

 together with figures given by Sender (Tropische Agrikultur. Vol. 1, p 617). 

 The percentages of protein, oil, and ash have been recalculated to a mois- 

 ture free basis. 



Semler's Coconut. -Normal Nut Macapuno Nut. 



Firm outer Soft inner 

 Meat. Milk. Meat. Milk. portion. portion. 



Water 46.64 91.50 63.62 95.13 71.39 90-65 



Protein 10.79 5.41 9.09 1.09 11.76 10 69 



Oil 67.33 0.8-2 68.63 Undet. 41.67 18.89 



Ash 1.81 14.00 2.11 Undet. 1.81 3.74 



