8 



[July, 1912, 



OILS AND FATS: 



THE COCONUT AND ITS COM- 

 MERCIAL USES. 



Part 1. 



(Prom the Bulletin of the Imperial Ins- 

 titute, Vol. X., No. 1, April 1912.) 



The coconut palra is one of the most 

 valuable of tropical economic plant.", its 

 products being of great importance not 

 only to the natives of the countries in 

 which they are produced, but also to the 

 commercial and manufacturing com- 

 munities of the world. The palm is 

 found growing naturally on most of the 

 islands and costal regions of the tropics, 

 but it is also extensively cultivated, and 

 much European capital is invested in the 

 coconut planting industry. 



The coconut palm belongs to the Coc oi- 

 nea tribe of the N. O. Palmacese, which 

 also includes the West African oil-palm, 

 Elceis guinensis. It is known botani- 

 cally as Cocos nwifera, Linn., and there 

 are many varieties of the type species in 

 cultivation that differ in habit of 

 growth, in the period of maturity and 

 yield, and more markedly in the size, 

 shape, and colour of the mature fruits. 

 The coconut is essentially a tropical 

 palm, and while it can grow up to the 

 25th degree, north or south latitude, it 

 rarely ripens fruit in the extreme limits 

 of this region. • The geographical origin 

 of the plant is a matter of considerable 

 doubt, and conflicting theories have been 

 advanced as to its original habitat and 

 to account for its present distribution. 

 De Candolle believed that it was indig- 

 enous to the Indian Archipelago. The 

 germination of the seed is not injurious- 

 ly affected by the immersion of the fruit 

 in sea-water for a considerable period, 

 and it is assumed that ocean currents 

 played an important part in dispersing 

 the seed from this region over wide areas 

 prior to the intervention of man. Other 



authorities favour an American origin, 

 and in support of their theory is the 

 significant fact that of about thirty 

 species of Cocos known, C. nucifera is 

 the only one found growing naturally in 

 the eastern as well as western hemis- 

 phere. In papers contributed to the 

 Bulletin of the United States National 

 Uluseum (1901, 7, 257 ; 1910, 14, 271) Cook 

 strongly supports the theory of the 

 American origin of the coconut. He con- 

 siders the peculiar structure of the fruit 

 to be especially adapted for assisting the 

 germination of the seed and the estab- 

 lishment of the young plant in dry, in- 

 land climates, rather than for maritime 

 distribution. He also points out that 

 although the palm has been introduced 

 by man to all the warmer castal regions 

 of the world, it has never become truly 

 wild, but is always dependent upon 

 human care to enable it to compete with 

 native vegetation. 



In countries favourable to its growth 

 the trunk of the coconut palm attains a 

 height of from 50 to 100 ft., and a dia- 

 meter of 18 or more inches. When young 

 it is vertical, but usually inclines to one 

 side with age ; it is unbranched, and is 

 ring-marked throughout its length by 

 the scars of fallen leaves. The leaves 

 are borne in a tuft at the apex of the 

 trunk ; they attain a length of from 15 

 to 20 ft., and are composed of numerous 

 leaflets that are disposed on two sides of 

 a common axis or rachis. New leaves 

 arise from the centre of the apical cluster, 

 from a terminal bud or " cabbage." The 

 flowers are produced on a branched 

 spadix, which in its young state is en- 

 closed in a tough tubular spathe situated 

 in the axil of a leaf ; they are unisexual, 

 and both pistillate and staminate flowers 

 are borne on the same inflorescence, the 

 former being situated towards the base 

 of the branches. The perianth consists 

 of three outer and three inner segments 

 of a yellow or greenish-yellow colour; 

 the stamens number six ; the ovary is 



