CHAPTER 3

Is there any palm more beautiful than the coconut? Gracefully reclining on the beach as if bending with the wind, its crown of pinnate fronds dancing in the breeze, there is no doubt of its physical beauty, yet the coconut has another kind of beauty, its intimate relation to humankind over history and even at the present through the uses found for it. The coconut, Cocos nucifera, is without a doubt the best palm of the world based on its products and its uses for people. The date palm, a close rival, is less well adapted and therefore is of great importance in a much smaller geographic region. The oil palm undoubtedly of great importance, is well adapted but much less useful than the coconut. This marvelous palm and its many uses will be described here.

The coconut throughout the world

The coconut was well distributed before the age of European exploration, making its origin difficult to trace. While the plants most related to the coconut are found in Northwest South America, before Columbus the coconut was known on only a small part of the Pacific coast and not at all on the Atlantic coast of South or Central America. The evidence is varied and controversial, but most probably the original coconut developed in the area from Southeast Asia to the Pacific islands, where coconut culture is well advanced. Adapted to disbursal by the seas, the coconut could have been distributed even without the help of humankind, although the roles of humans in selecting and transporting coconuts are evident. While the coconut today is produced throughout the tropics, nevertheless the most important regions of production are still the islands of the South Pacific, the Philippine islands, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. This concentration of production in one region does not negate the fact that the coconut is well known and important in all parts of the tropics.

The coconut is broadly adapted to the tropics. While associated with the seashore and thus with lands near sea level, the coconut can be found in large inland plantations in some countries, and is frequently seen as well in the foothills of the mountains. It cannot tolerate much frost, however, nor extremes of either flooding or drought. While usually found in sands, coconuts can be grown in a wide variety of soils.

Coconuts are highly varied. Roughly divided into two kinds, the tall and the dwarf, the first varies in shape and size of the nut and the husk which surrounds it, and in the special uses for which a variety is used, as a drink, for the soft pulp, or for the mature pulp. The dwarf varieties are more resistant to lethal yellowing, a fatal disease of palms, and include external fruit colors ranging from green to yellow to orange and even red. While the tall coconuts are cross pollinated, as the rule the dwarfs pollinate themselves.

Table 4. The uses of the coconut palm.

Ecological roles of the coconut

The coconut is seldom or ever planted for its ecological roles, yet, because of the vast areas of the tropics covered by coconut plantations, the coconut does play an important part ecologically. As a light shade, the coconut lends itself to forms of multistoried planting. Very commonly animals are pastured on natural or improved grasses below the shade, which, in time, can compact some soils and reduce the yields of the coconuts. Less harmful is the production of other crops, shade-tolerant shrubs and trees including banana, cacao, and coffee, or annual plantings of annual and perennial vegetables. The yields of these vegetables are usually not as high as they would be in full sun, yet, it is profitable to make use of the coconut plantation in this way as well

With time the coconut plantation produces large quantities of residues, the old leaves and the unused coir, materials that rot slowly and are useful in reducing erosion, and in filling gullies.

Uses of the coconut for food

The most important uses of the coconut are summarized in Table 4. The uses as food are quite varied, and most of them are centered around the nut, whether mature or green. The peoples of the world have discovered an amazing variety of uses that depend in part on the variety and its characteristics, and on the maturity of the nut. For example, the liquid of the immature nut is a refreshing drink, but the liquid of the mature nut, while of good taste, is more likely to loosen the bowels. The liquid of the nut is not the same as the "milk". This name refers to the juice extracted from the grated kernel, by pressing or wringing in a cloth, with or without first adding some water. Rich in oil, the liquid is white and milky in appearance, and of high nutritive value (oil, carbohydrates, protein). It is mixed into many kinds of food.

Oddly, the mature kernel is not used at the household level as frequently as the "milk", yet has its major use in the production of copra, dried coconut kernel, pressed for the extraction of oil which has many uses as food (cooking oil, condiments, pastries, margarine) as well as personal uses (hair and anointments), and a very wide variety of industrial uses. The residue after extraction of oil is a fibrous cake rich also in protein, which is used as an animal feed.

While the terminal bud or cabbage is highly prized as a food, and while the trunks can be used for the manufacture of starch (sago), these uses are destructive and are practiced only in emergency or when old palms are destroyed by storm or are removed. However, the sap of the inflorescence is highly prized for its many uses. The tapping of the inflorescence for the sap is a difficult art which may include beating of the inflorescence and shaving away a small portion each day to keep the sap flowing. The sap can be used fresh as a beverage, but more often it is permitted to ferment naturally, providing an alcoholic toddy. Still later fermentation leads to the production of vinegar. The best arrack, the distilled spirits of toddy, comes from the coconut palm. The brown sugar, jaggery, obtained by boiling the sap, is a familiar and useful food item in many parts of the world.

Even the germinating nut has its uses. The ball of roots within the nut (haustorium) is prized as a cooked vegetable.

Finally, the uses of various parts of the coconut palm as medicines must be mentioned, although these uses are so numerous and sometimes controversial that they cannot be even listed here.

Non-food uses of coconut

The extraction of copra for oil and its consequent use for food and for industrial purposes has been for many years the primary importance of the coconut on the international market. However, at the level of the farm the uses of coconut for non-food purposes are many, and for the small land holder, these uses may be as important as the food uses. This is especially true in the uses of the palm for construction. The trunks make good, heavy foundation supports of the house. The trunk can also be sawed to boards for floors. The petioles and midribs of the leaves are useful in frameworks for walls and roofs, and the leaves themselves are used in thatching. The leaflets may be woven into mats for the floor or as panels for walls.

Many household items are made from the coconut palm. Containers and utensils are made from the shell of the nut. The leaves are woven into many products. The coir fiber is used in mattresses. The fuel of the household may come from parts of the coconut palm, directly or after conversion to charcoal. The oil is used in lamps, and bundles of leaflets are used in torches.

Surely the coconut palm is more that a staff of life. In some regions it is the basis for human survival. Yet, the coconut palm may also be thought of as a model, illustrating the many uses to which palms can be put. This will be evident in the coming chapters as other palms are discussed.

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Chapter 2

How are palms used around the world? It might take considerable study to find all the ways. More than 800 uses have been recorded for the date palm alone, for it is the very foundation of life for several cultures. One might divide the uses into three classes: for ecological purposes, for food, and for other uses.

Ecological Uses

Palms are seldom used purposely for ecological purposes, yet they play a great role in the ecology of the tropical forest, for they are, in size, from small and almost insignificant understory plants to large and dominating beauties of the forest. They are shelter for numerous birds and small animals. In the axils of the old leaves other plants such as ferns, orchids, and bromeliads grow, and their unique insects are many in number. Palms are principal sources of food for many birds and mammals. Some may fly to or climb the palms in search of the fruits, while others find the fruits on the ground below. Even the foliage serves as food for some animals.

On the farm the principal domesticated species have a limited number of ecological functions. Coconut groves give a light shade that can improve the yields of some crops like taro and its relatives. The long leaves of cultivated palms add to the tangle of decaying organic material to provide a constant return of minerals and organic matter to the soil.

Uses as Food

Almost all parts of the palm can be used as food in some cases, as shown in Table 2. The three most common food uses are of the sap, the accumulated starch, or the growing tip. The tapping of the inflorescence or the apex of the palm yields sap, which can be made into a fresh drink, or fermented into toddy, or then distilled into arrack. The sap can also be boiled to yield palm sugar, jaggery. The accumulated starch is harvested from the trunk of mature palms, and becomes not only a staple food but an industrial product as well. The third common use is of the growing tip hidden among the bases of the leaves. The tender tip, eaten raw or cooked, is frequently called millionaire's salad. Harvesting the tip destroys the trunk, and thus the best species for this purpose are those with multiple trunks. The above general uses are shared by many, many species of palms.

In contrast, the edible qualities of the inflorescence, the flower, the pollen, the fruit pulp, and the nut inside vary with each species and it is difficult to be sure of these uses without careful trial.

Table 2. The Edible Uses of Palms

Other uses of the palms

The principal non-food uses of palms are summarized in Table 3. One very important use is for construction. Because the trunks and leaves may be long, they often contain tough fibers that are quite useful. The trunks, entire or cut into planks, and the petioles as well as the rib of the leaf are often used to support buildings, or as a framework, or even as floors. The leaves are woven in many ways to make useful mats and are often used in thatching of walls and roofs. Very thin trunks of viny palms are the sources of rattan used in furniture.

Useful wax is removed from some species, from the trunk, the mature leaves or even the young, unfolded leaves. This is an article of commerce such as carnauba wax. The fibers can be removed by hand after retting (partial rotting in water), or by hand techniques. Many woody parts of the plants are used for making charcoal. But, this is not all, for native peoples have found ways to use even the thorns of some species.

Finally, some plant parts, especially the foliage, but also the trunks of some starchy palms are used for animal feed, especially during drought.

Table 3. Other useful products of the palms.

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Chapter 1

Among the plants of the Tropics it is difficult to find a family of plants of more service to people than the palm family (Palmae, Arecaceae). In fact, this family has been called the most versatile of all due to its many uses. A better known family and still more important as a source of food is the grass family for the principal crops it provides, wheat, rice and corn. Yet the grass family has few other uses compared with the palm family.

Palms seldom receive the recognition they merit, perhaps because the family is almost entirely of the tropics, and almost completely absent in temperate zones where there are more writers of books and magazines as well as researchers. This handbook hopes to remedy in part this neglect and to make known to its readers some of the most important palms and their uses. It also aims to stimulate readers to grow and use palms with the belief that these plants can be of much, much more service. Furthermore, the palms are one of the largest and most agreeable parts of the tropical landscape.

The structure of palms:

With its simple structure, it is difficult to imagine all of the purposes a palm can serve. The palm usually has a simple trunk with a network of roots in the soil and a long or spatulate leaves, called fronds, originating at the top from a single bud. Flowers are produced in clusters which arise from the axils of the leaves. These may be male, female, or hermaphroditic. From the female flower parts a fruits arises which may have a fleshy or fibrous outer coat, a hard inner coat, and a somewhat hard, often hollow endosperm. Almost all palms are variations of this theme. Because the palm normally has only a single growing tip, damage or destruction of the tip often results in the death of the palm.

Records Involving Palms

Palms beat records in many ways, as follows:

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The World’s Best

Table of Contents

1. Palm Facts

• Palm Ethnobotany
• Principal Divisions of the Palm Family
• Astonishing Palm Facts

2. Uses of Palms Throughout the World

• Ecological Uses of Palms
• Food Uses of Palms
• Building Materials from Palms

3. The Coconut Palm

• The Coconut is Used Throughout the World
• Ecological Uses of the Coconut
• The Coconut for Nourishment
• Craft Uses of the Coconut

4. Palms for Staple Food

• The Coconut
• The Date Palm
• The Palmyra Palms
• The Doum Palms
• The Buriti Palm

5. Palms for Edible Fruits

• The Salak Palm
• The Peach Palm
• The Rattan Palms
• The Chonta Palm

6. Palms for Drinks, Sugar and Starch

• The Nipa Palm
• The Raphia Palms
• The Sago Palms
• The Sugar Palm
• The Fishtail Palm

7. Palms for Vegetables

• The Pacaya Palms
• The Peach Palm
• The Coconut Palm
• The Assai Palm

8. Palms for Oil

• The African Oil Palm
• The Coconut Palm
• The Babassu Palm
• The Murumuru and Other Wild Palms

9. Cultivating Palms

• Collecting Seeds and Plants
• Germination Seeds
• Care in the Nursery
• Planting Out Palms

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