Coconut

The Coconut

The coconut is the fruit (drupe) of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera); one of the representatives of the palm or Arecaceae family. The full inflorescence can reach 1 meter long. The fruit, which can measure up to 30 cm in diameter, is smooth and light green or orange in color when unripe, turning brown and covered with a thick layer of brown woody fibers surrounding the nut at maturity composed of a solid, more or less spherical oval shell which protects an edible whitish almond.

                       




The coconut palm whose fruit we export is probably from the lagoon region of Côte d'Ivoire. Even though it is now acclimatized in most tropical countries, we remain the best exporters.

The coconut palm is one of the palm trees, with a sharp stipe (false trunk). It can reach a height of 25 meters; the stipe ends with a crown of huge feather-shaped leaves: the palms. The coconut palm grows mainly on the coastal plains of tropical regions, in humid environments: areas of groundwater uplift or stagnation of rainwater.