io 



[January, 1909. 



OSLS AND FATS. 



RECENT RESEARCHES REGARDING 

 THE GERMINATION OF THE COCO- 

 NUT AND THE DETERIORA- 

 TION OP ITS PRODUCTS. 



Abstract by C. Drieberg. 



The latest issue of the Philippine 

 Journal of Science contains a series of 

 notes on the sprouting of* the coconut, 

 on copra and on coconut-oil, which 

 ought to prove of interest to the planter. 



The first of these notes treats of 

 experiments made with a view to discover 

 if the coconut, like the castor-oil beau 

 and many other oil seeds, contains a 

 fat-splitting enzyme capable of saponify- 

 ing outside of the growing nut. 



A large number of tests were carried 

 out, the details of which it would hardly 

 prove of interest to traverse, but the 

 result of seven months' work in this 

 connection was to the effect that there 

 was not the slightest proof of the 

 existence of such an enzyme. The 

 cause of the destruction of the fat 

 which takes place in the growing nut 

 has, therefore, to be sought for else- 

 where. 



The second note deals with the changes 

 accompanying the sprouting of the nut. 



As regards the milk — or, as we call 

 it, the "water" — (for coconut milk is, 

 with us, the expressed milky juice of 

 the meat or flesh) the total quantity 

 showed a marked diminution from 374 

 grammes in an unsprouted nut to noth- 

 ing when the sprouts had attained a 

 height of 93 centimetres. At the same 

 time there is a decided loss of sugar, 

 which falls from 2 % and 2*3 % in the 

 milk of unsprouted nuts to 3 % in that 

 of the nuts with sprouts 38 centimetres 

 in height. In the meat or flesh a 

 definite loss in total weight is evident, 

 since it drops from 475 grammes in the 

 unsprouted nut to 148 in the nut with 

 sprouts 93 centimetres high. The loss 

 appears to be due to direct absorption 

 by the foot, the process taking place at 

 first only in the portion of the meat 

 near the latter, but increasing rapidly 

 as the endosperm grows larger and 

 comes in contact with the entire inner 

 surface of the nut. 



The loss in weight of oil is fairly propor- 

 tional to the loss in weight of meat, the 

 percentage of oil in the meat remaining 

 constant within the somewhat wide 



limits of individual variation. During 

 the early stages of germination there 

 is apparent a certain concentration of 

 oil near the foot, with corresponding 

 loss in that portion of the meat farthest 

 away. 



Water is gradually lost by the meat, as 

 well as all other parts of the nut, by 

 evaporation through the shell and sprout 

 during germination. The percentage of 

 sugar decreases from 4'1 % in the 

 unsprouted nut to 1"12 % in that with 

 a sprout 93 centimetres long. The loss 

 is probably to be attributed to absorp- 

 tion of sugar by the foot, as in all 

 cases there is considerably less sugar 

 in that portion of the nut in direct 

 contact with the endosperm than there 

 is in the parts farthest away from it. 



As regards crude fibre in meat no 

 decided change in the proportion can 

 be observed. Itis absorbed at practically 

 the same rate as the rest of the meat. 



In the observations regarding tbe 

 changes taking place in the foot, it was 

 found that the total weight increased 

 from 19 grammes in the unsprouted nut 

 to 228 grammes in those with a sprout 93 

 centimetres high. There was apparently 

 also a loss in the percentage" of sugar 

 (although not in its total weight) until 

 the foot completely filled the nut, at 

 which time there is rapid gain. This 

 phenomenon is probably to be attributed 

 to the fact that the foot at first draws 

 its sugar chiefly from the milk, by which 

 it is almost entirely summoned. How- 

 ever, as it continues to grow, it soon 

 exhausts the sugar in the milk, and 

 only when it has completely filled the 

 nut and come into intimate contact 

 with the inner surface of the meat, has 

 it an opportunity to continue the 

 process of sugar absorption and also 

 of sugar creation, possibly from the 

 oil, or possibly from oil and crude fibre. 

 Of crude fibre there was only a slight 

 increase to be noted. 



From the commencement of the ger- 

 minating process oil from the meat near- 

 est the foot is invaiably richest in fatty 

 acids, and this difference becomes more 

 marked as germination proceeds. It is 

 only when the foot has come in complete 

 contact with the meat that an increase 

 in fatty acids throughout the whole 

 nut is observed, indicating that oil, to 

 be in a condition for absorption, must 

 be hydrolised. This hydrolysis may 



1 gramme = 15-43235 grains. 

 1 centimetre = -3937 inches. 



