CHAPTER VI 



COPRA AND COIR 



Copra. This is simply the kernel broken into 

 pieces usually quarters and dried in the sun, 

 or by means of artificial heating. Only ripe 

 nuts can be used for making this product, 

 and they are kept unbroken for about three 

 weeks after gathering, as the copra dries more 

 quickly and gives a larger proportion of oil and, 

 moreover, does not turn mouldy. Copra contains 

 about 62 per cent, its weight in oil. 



Copra is usually shipped to the European 

 market in the dried quarter-kernel form, but for 

 confectionery purposes the nut is disintegrated, 

 and the product takes the form of prepared dust. 

 The process is somewhat as follows 



The red rind is shaved off the nut, leaving the 

 bare white kernel, which, after thorough wash- 

 ing, is passed on to the disintegrating machine 

 and ground to a mass, which has the appearance 

 of having been grated. In this condition it is 

 dried at a temperature of about 150F. ; after 

 cooling it is graded by sifters into three grades, 

 fine, medium, coarse. The produce is then packed 

 in tin-lined cases, containing approximately a 

 Straits picul, or 133 \ Ibs., and is then ready for 

 the foreign market. 



